Goddess Sequence
by KnightTime32
Summary: Takes place 19 years after "Goddess Interrupted" please see story for complete details
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Hi, so this takes place about 19 years after the end of "Goddess Interrupted" (and has some spoilers for the book) So if you haven't read "Goddess Interrupted", read with caution**

**This is the story of Kate and Henry's daughter, Zoë, who goes off to college and is place among a group who call themselves as the Societies of Olympus (which are servants/messengers of the gods/goddesses), makes new friends and goes on new adventures.**

**_Disclaimer:_ Aimee Carter owns the world and her characters **(I just manipulate them)**... same with any other characters/worlds/people mentioned throughout the story**

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To fit in. That's what we, as teenagers, all want. To find our place in the world and to not be mocked. It was on my quest to be with others my age that caused me to leave my childhood home of almost nineteen years.

My journey begins on the day that I left for college. Silence filled the air as my parents and I shuffled towards the portal that would take me to the surface. Anxiety and excitement filled me, for I had planned for this for the past year and it was finally happening. We stopped when we got to the rainbow rock that would take me to Greece – which was where my college was located. I turned back to both my parents.

Mom had tears in her eyes as I gave her one last hug. "Nothing will happen to me, but I need to do this." Something quickly came and went from her face, as she drew me tightly against her, kissing the top of my head – though I was the same height of her.

"Just remember you can come back whenever you wish," She whispered in my ear and I nodded as she let me go.

I gave Dad a quick hug. "Stay safe and remember what I told you,"

"I will." I said, stepping away from them, and half a step away from the rainbow portal that would lead me to the land of the living. "I will be back as soon as I can." I was lying slightly, and I knew they would catch that. It wasn't that I never wanted to be back there, but I wanted to be free for a bit, live a little, before I came back.

I smiled at them as I stepped onto the portal. "Love you." I said before the ground started moving below me and I began to move upward.

"I love you, too." I head them both say before I was completely swallowed by the miles of rock that separated my home from the earth.

Bright sunshine shone from the windows of the heavy mahogany doors, and bounced along the many mirrors in tiny rainbows.

This was not the first time I have seen sunshine. I have seen it before when my parents took me to this New York City.

I had also seen the sun when Mom took me with her, Aunt Ava and James for a few days to some islands in the Mediterranean when I was fourteen. That was probably my favorite trip to the surface. I loved the sunshine on my skin. I loved the feeling of water surrounding me, as I swam through its waves. I liked the warm weather. I liked the feeling that the earth was alive and moving and changing.

It was this feeling of change that helped to decide to leave and explore the world. It was that feeling that led me to where I am now.

After my eyes had adjusted I noticed Aunt Ava standing by the door with a wide smile on her face. "Aunt Ava" I said as I went to hug her.

"You've grown up so much, since I've last seen you, Zoë, and now you are even more beautiful." She said as she hugged me back.

"Thank you," I said as she took the only suitcase I could find in our home and made it disappear.

"Don't worry, it'll be in the car, I promise." She smiled slightly, as if it was some sort of inside joke or something. "So how are Kate and Henry?"

"They're good." I began as we headed out the front doors and down the rock path surrounded by many numerous and exotic plants. "Mom was sad to see me leave – I think I'm still five in her mind."

"It's a mom thing," Aunt Ava said as she smiled at me, "You'll always be our babies."

I nodded slightly, taking this in – which I knew this was the reason as soon as Aunt Ava said it. "But she also said that you and she should get together again very soon, and both she and Dad send you their greetings."

"Most definitely," She said absently as we continued on our way in silence, "Are you anxious about leaving?" She asked as we neared the iron gate and the shiny red convertible that waited on the other side.

"Sort of, I'm anxious about leaving home for the first time, but I'm excited to explore the world and be with others my age." I said as the gates opened automatically for us.

"I would bet, how about meeting guys. You know if you need any help with that–"

"No, thank you, Aunt Ava," I interrupted, as heat flushed my cheeks, and I concentrated on opening my door.

"Alright," She said in a more serious note, "But remember, I'm always here for you, if you ever just need some advice, someone to talk to, anything, I'm here."

"I will, thank you." I said as I slid into the ostentatious vehicle. Inside was very cozy and not as flashy as the outside. Aunt Ava slipped in, with the amount of grace that I was sure only she possessed. She pressed a button and the car came to life with a soft purr. She flipped the top down, and turned the radio on. A sharp guitar came on as she handed me a pair of sunglasses she created before shifting the car into drive.

We set off on the journey through the Greek countryside, passing goats and sheep grazing on the hillsides, mountains, grains, and olive trees. Sunshine shone brightly around us making the scenery seem that so much more real. I stared out my window most of the time, enchanted by the beauty that was surrounding us.

But when we came closer towards Athens (and the hills and cattle being replaced with houses and industrial buildings) I took out the letter that was in my pocket, and began to reread the words that I had committed to memory. It was worn at the edges from me taking it out and reading it almost constantly since it arrived in late June.

"What's that?" Aunt Ava asked, glancing at the envelope. I stopped reading and closed the letter with the photos inside.

"A letter my roommate, Annabel, sent to me." I said quietly, showing it to her.

We were getting closer to Athens proper, for the houses had grown closer together and now disappeared, and the buildings were getting taller with randomly scattered ancient Greek-styled buildings. The Parthenon rose in front of us, signifying that we were getting closer to my new school.

I clutched the letter tighter in my hand, anxiety coursing through my veins at the thought of all the unknowns that would come this year. Annabel seemed like a very sweet girl, but what if she wasn't anything like who she seemed like in her letter. What if she was mean to me? What if I couldn't get along with any one? What if no one liked me? What if everything went wrong? What if they found out about my family? What if I would reveal us?

"Calm down," Aunt Ava said softly as we were entering a group of buildings whose inspiration was that of the architecture of ancient Greece. "It'll all be ok, Sweetie. Everything will turn out for the best. Just think of all the adventures you will have, all the friends you will make, all the people you will meet. Everything will be fine." She was slowing down, and turning onto a side street, and I realized we were almost there. "I will visit you often, if you would like. And if you absolutely don't like it here you can quit – no one will think any less of you. And if you don't want to go back to your home you can stay with us for awhile. You and I can go on adventures, if you would like."

We were pulling up to a building with intimidatingly tall and large columns out front and steps that led up to several glass doors – my new home. She pulled into a parking place and turned off the car. "But just remember everything will turn out for the best." She sounded so much like my mother in that instant that I went around the car and threw my arms around her. She hugged me back, and said – in her normal cheery voice–, "Now let's get you settled in." I smiled as I reached into the back to grab my suitcase and backpacks.

Aunt Ava took my suitcase as we went up the shallow stairs to the doorway. "What room are you in, Zoë?"

I stopped to take out the manila envelope that I recieved last week which had all my information, keys and such inside of it. "2-11" I said as I looked at the info sheet before placing in back into the envelope "It's on the second floor on the right." We walked past a large library with its large golden-oak doors propped open, to the large marble stair case which split into two different directions after several stairs. We headed up the right staircase.

When we reached the second floor we came to a closed off door which matched the library door. "You'll need to use your ID badge." Aunt Ava said softly. I nodded and took the card and waved in front of the magnetic square. The square beeped and the door clicked. I opened the door and held it open for Aunt Ava.

The door opened into a large room almost triangular-shaped room. On the widest part of the room, along the back wall, was the setup of a kitchen. Tables and chairs lined the rest of the back wall. Worn leather couch and loveseats were surrounding a TV in the corner to my left. To my right there was a large metal cabinet, and a small table with two chairs.

There were people scattered throughout the room. There were two guys at the pool table to my left, a girl and a guy playing ice hockey (also to my left), there were others around the TV and two girls playing some sort of card game to my right.

"Do you need any help?" One of the two girls asked as we stepped in, "I'm Helen, by the way." Helen was one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen. She had light golden-blonde hair that waved slightly to the middle of her back, and she was tall – a good five inches taller than my five-foot-six-height.

"I'm Abby," The other said from the table. She was pretty, also, but hers was the more subtle beauty than Helen. She had completely straight black hair, which she wore in two long, low pigtails.

"I'm Zoë," I said softly, shaking the hand Helen held out.

"Oh," She said with a smile, and it brightened her face, making her that much more beautiful. "Well Abby and I are your suitemates – we are in the room next to you and Annabel. Annabel should be there, if not, you can put your things away and join us if you wish. Or if you and Annabel both wish to join us you may. We're just playing Go Fish, Abby's trying to teach me Durak – but I'm not really getting it."

"Alright," I said timidly, with a small smile, "Thank you."

"No problem," She said as Aunt Ava and I continued toward the door to the hallway.

"See, you've already met someone, things won't be bad here." She said quietly as she opened the door.

"Maybe," I said as I spotted my room, which was almost directly in front of the door. I swiped my ID card, and the door unlocked.

Annabel wasn't inside, but her things were. Her bed was made –something I hadn't done since I was thirteen and my mom quit making me. Her white quilt was tucked in, and her wine colored blanket was folded up at the end. Pictures were scattered all over the left side of the room. Some were of the lake she sent me, some of an inn, of cats, a bunny and a Scottie dog. There were also people in her pictures, one was of five people standing in front of an inn, another of four little kids gathered together, a little boy and girl holding a baby, and then there were many of a strawberry blonde girl and a golden haired girl together – and sometimes there was a golden-brown-haired guy with them. This was what the sole framed picture directly above the top of her bed was: the two blonde girls and boy standing in front of a lit Christmas tree, all three of them were smiling brightly.

There was a click at the door and I turned around to see the strawberry blonde girl walk through the door. She smiled at me and said in a soft Irish accent, "Hello, I'm Annabel MacGhlais, you must be Zoë." I nodded and shook her hand. "It's very nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," I said with a smile – and it was, nice to meet her.

She turned to Aunt Ava, "And you must be," She paused for the briefest of seconds, "Mrs. Winters."

Aunt Ava smiled and shook her head, "No, I'm Ava, Kate's friend."

"I'm sorry, it's very nice to meet you, too."

"Nice to meet you, Annabel," Aunt Ava said before pulling me to the side. She pulled out another plastic card from her pocket and handed it to me, "If you need anything, use this – but remember to keep it away from anything magnetic, including your phone." I nodded and she pulled me into a quick hug. "Remember everything will be fine, but if you need me just let me know. See you soon," She smiled before slipping past Annabel through the door.

"Is Kate your sister?" Annabel asked after Aunt Ava left, as she sat across from me.

I shook my head, "No, I'm an only child. Kate and Henry are my parents."

She looked a little astonished, "Just out of curiosity, how old are your parents?"

Grinning, I answered her as I began to unpack my backpack, "Older than they appear – same with Aunt Ava."

"So your mum is friends with the embodiment of Aphrodite?" She asked as I placed the books I took with me on the shelf above my desk.

"Yeah, I guess she is." I said as I carefully took out the framed picture of Mom, Dad and me on my seventh birthday. We were laughing in the picture, I forget now what it was that caused us to all be so giggly – I think it had to do with Mom trying to put icing on me. The picture was taken in Sheep Meadow, with us all sitting on a picnic blanket. There's a picnic basket behind me, and we're each had a cupcake that I had helped Mom make in our hands. They were white cake with purple frosting, and were probably the best cupcakes I've ever had. Other than that it was an almost exact replica of the picture I found later of Mom and Grandma.

"Would you like any help? I have a hook you can use to hang that up with." Annabel asked, drawing me away from my memories.

"Thank you," I said as she reached into a desk drawer and retrieved a small plastic hook.

She handed it to me, "That's a very neat picture. How old were you when it was taken?"

"Seven," I said as I peeled back the piece of paper that was on the back, and placed it above my bed.

"It's almost as if you are moving." She said quietly, and I smiled – for that was exactly what was happening. It was a reflection – just like the picture of Mom and Grandma. She handed me the picture and I hung it on the hook. "You're not a wizard, are you?" She asked lightly, and I could tell she was kidding.

"No," I said with a smile. I went back to my backpack to grab my sheets.

She was quiet for a minute and I began to make my bed. "There's a party tonight on top of the roof, and I was wondering if you would like to join me." I stopped, and the top sheet slowly fell toward the bed. Party. That was specifically one of the things Dad told me not to do here. She noticed my hesitation and added, "It's not _that_ kind of party, just a big celebration before orientation week begins tomorrow. If it gets wild we can come back here."

_Well that would be ok, wouldn't it? That wouldn't go against Dad's rules, would it? If I was out of there before anything happens? _"I would like that, thank you." I said as I finished placing my quilt over the bed.

"Great, I can help you get ready, if you wish."

"Thank you," I said with a smile as I placed the pillowcase on my pillow. Maybe Aunt Ava was right, maybe things would turn out well here.

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**So yeah, I hope you enjoyed it... (If you are wondering, the song that is playing when Ava turns the radio on is "The Sound" by Switchfoot)**

**The next chapter should be up sometime this weekend (and it'll have Liam - who's the brown-haired guy in Annabel's pictures - in it, **then in the third chapter will have Rose and David and a little bit about the Olympic societies. The Societies of Olympus is a group of eleven separate groups which includes the original sisters, then the other Council members and Persephone. If you have read "Starcrossed" they are similar to the Scions**)**  
Btw, if I say things which are inaccurate (like dialogue, and such) please let me know (especially with Liam and Annabel)

** Have you read "Goddess Legacy"? I really liked how Kate and Henry first met** (yes, Zoë's picture was modeled after it... and in *_this_* story Kate found out about it that day, Zoë's birthday, when she made a small comment about how she wonders if a large dog will come by this time, then she turns to Henry and say in astonishment/realization "That was you and Cerberus."Henry gave her a quick smile before turning to Zoë and whispering lound enough for Kate to hear, "Happy birthday, Zoë. I wish you an infinite number more.")

**Anyways, hope all of you have a wonderful week :)  
**-Becca


	2. Chapter 2: The First William

**Hello :)  
Thank you for reading, here's the story...**

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The cool evening breeze ruffled my carefully pinned curls – courtesy of Annabel MacGhlais. I gently pulled down on the elbow length sleeves of my white sweater, with no success. Annabel had gone to talk to some people, leaving me alone with a bunch of strangers. Feeling slightly claustrophobic from all the people close together, I sought out open air. There were only a couple people along the angled edge of the building. One of which was leaning too far over the bricked-edge for comfort. "You're not going to jump, are you?" I asked, as I walked closer to him.

He turned and gave me a pained expression. I recognized him as the golden-brown-haired guy in a few of Annabel's pictures. But it was kind of like when you find pictures of your parents (when they were little) – you recognize them as your parents, but they look nothing like they do now. He had seemed to age considerably since the framed picture above Annabel's bed, and seemed to have suffered a thousand years of loneliness in that amount of time.

He shook his head, and said in the same slight Irish accent Annabel had, "But what would you have done if I did?"

I stepped closer to him, not sure if he _was_ going to jump or not. "I would try to stop you, and talk to you – I'm sure whatever it is that is causing you to end your life isn't that bad. Unless you are some sort of superhero, which a fifty-plus foot fall would not kill you." He gave me a small pained smile, and I wondered if that was the first he showed in a long time. "I'm Zoë, by the way." I said with a smile, as I held out my hand.

"Liam," He stated as he shook my hand.

"It's very nice to meet you, Liam." I stated with bright smile, trying to think of ways to help him feel better. "I'm guessing you don't want to talk about whatever is bothering you."

"No," He said simply, looking over the ledge, and I followed his gaze to a small garden by the side of the building. We remained quiet for a few minutes before he asked quietly, "Do you have any brothers or sisters, Zoë?"

I shook my head, "No, I am an only child – I wished I had a sibling, though." I knew where this was going, he was troubled by one of his siblings, and I could guess– judging by the deep sadness that was etched into his honey brown eyes – that they had died.

"You love them completely." He said softly, continuing to look down at the garden. "You will do everything you possibly can to protect them and defend them to the ends of the earth and back. You may argue with them sometimes, but you will never stop loving them – and death will never separate you." His voice strained on the last part, and my suspicion was confirmed.

"Is that what happened to them?" I asked very quietly, and he nodded. "Well then I will just say this once –and I know you're tired of hearing it – but I am truly sorry for your loss and I wish every happiness in the word."

"Thank you," He said, looking up at me to see if I meant it. And I did wholeheartedly.

"So where are you from, Liam? And do you happen to know Annabel MacGhlais." I asked cheerfully.

"Northern Ireland. And yes, Annabel and I are friends and her family lives next door to ours." He lightened up slightly didn't seem quiet as depressed. Don't get me wrong, I knew he was still grieving his sibling's death, but the despair seemed to lessen in his eyes. "You're Anna's roommate, aren't you?" I nodded, "Where are you from?"

"Michigan, Upper Peninsula," He looked slightly confused so I clarified, "It's in the U.S."

He nodded in understanding. "What's it like there?" He asked and this began our conversation.

He told me how he and his sister, Lily, had been best friends with Annabel and close friends with her older brother, Lucas, almost literally since birth. How you would rarely see Lily without Annabel. In fact his mother and Annabel's mother had been best friends since they were here almost twenty-five years ago. He told me some interesting stories of Annabel when she was younger, including one of her being chased by cows (and that is why she is terrified of them now). He told me of how he worked for his uncle who was a jeweler in the capital. "I am named after him and my grandfather. My family has a tradition of naming the oldest son, William. I believe that the first person named William was a member of my family." He told me with a smile.

I, in turn, told him everything I could. I told him about my family (as much as I could). I told him about Pogo and Cerberus. I told him about reading -my favorite books, and about exploring the area outside my house. For the first time I wanted to be completely open with someone, to tell them everything – because I knew they listened and cared. I wanted to be friends with him.

"It's not your fault, by the way." I whispered to him, after half of the people had left.

"Yeah, it is." He said solemnly.

"I see that you two have met." Annabel said from behind us. We both turned around to look at her.

"Hello, Anna."

"Hello, Annabel," I said before mooing.

She looked sternly at Liam, "You told her?"

"I think it is one of your finer moments." He said with a poker face, while I kept smiling, trying not to giggle.

"But you abandoned me. Yet you were taunting them as much as I. Then when they started to charge after us, you led me into the middle of the field before disappearing."

"You made it out alright."

"After falling face first in to a pile of manure, and being head-butted by a few cows." She said with a bright smile, and I knew she wasn't really mad at him.

"You still made it out alive." He continued in a matter-of-fact manner.

"You still owe me."

He shook his head, trying to surpress a smile "Not after you two lined my locker with pink and purple crepe paper and the air vent with glitter."

Annabel laughed, smiling at the memory. "It made both your locker and car prettier."

He shook his head, but didn't say anything. The cooler night breeze blew around us, trying to displace anything it could.

"Well it's getting late," Annabel began, looking down at the clock on her phone, "I better get going."

"I'll go with you," I began, not really wanting to be left here, before glancing up at Liam. "It was very nice meeting you, Liam. I'll see you tomorrow?" I said with a shy smile, unsure of how they were setting up the orientation.

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too. I'll walk down with you." He continued, and the three of us headed for the stairs.

When Annabel and I reached our room she closed the door behind her and stared at me as if I had done something wrong, as if I offended her in some way. Which confused me, for I had no idea what I did, how I could have offended her.

"Who are you?" She asked quietly, but putting authority behind each word.

"My name is Zoë Elaine Winters." I stated, confused for she knew who I was.

Her next question surprised me, for it was one of the last questions I was expecting her to ask. "Are you Persephone?"

"No," I told her, then added mentally _that is my aunt._

"Are you the daughter of Hades and Persephone?"

"No," I said carefully, getting nervous that I was beginning to revealing myself already and it hadn't even been nine hours. "What does any of this have to do with anything?"

She walked quietly towards me, "Liam doesn't speak any more than one word answers, not since the accident."

"With Lily?" I asked softly with concern –for Annabel had been, according to Liam and the photos that littered her wall, _best_ friends with her.

She nodded, "I've tried my best to help him. Tonight's the first time I had seen him not so morose, the first time I saw him smile, the first time he's referred back to Lily since this all happened. And I'm pretty sure this is all thanks to you."

I took in what she was saying, and it seemed to fit the person I first met, who was leaning over the building. "Annabel, I know we just met and everything," I paused for a second to figure out how to phrase what I was trying to say, "But if you ever just need someone to be there, someone to listen, I'm here for you. For I know you two were practically sisters, and it was hard on you too."

She remained silent, looking into the ground, "Thanks," She breathed very quietly, before grabbing her pajamas and toothbrush and heading to the bathroom.

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**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it (I will try to have the next chapter up next weekend)**

**Anyways (To KC... the Original sisters are Hestia/Sofia, Demeter/Diana, and Hera/Calliope)  
**(And for the record, Zoë's eyes change colors. Normally her eyes are a bright blue -the same color as Kate's, Diana's, and Persephone. They will change into a very clouded -as in shadowy-, dim moonlight when she lies. When she is mad they turn to the colors of stormclouds. When she is upset, lonely, sad, nevrous, anxious her eyes are the color of moonlight -same as Henry's. And when she is happy, excited or completely content her eyes are a perfect combination of her parents -bright blue and moonlight.)

-Becca


	3. Chapter 3: The State, Not the City

**Hello, sorry this is late, hope you enjoy it :)**

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Annabel and I walked quietly across the quad to the Mythology building, to our first day of orientation. I believe both of us were still half-asleep, I know I was. I tried to stifle a yawn, as I followed Annabel into a small auditorium styled class room.

Three people, all of whom seemed to be in their mid-thirties stood at the bottom in the center. The oldest had very dark brown hair, which barely touched the tips of his ears (and the collar of a polo if he was wearing one). The one in the middle was built like a superhero, and I was almost sure he could snap your neck by just looking at you crooked. He had dirty-golden blonde hair which he tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. The other had long, straight, auburn –almost dark ruby- hair which fell to her lower back.

Annabel and I found our seats in the middle (on the right) between Helen and a girl with dark brown –darker than the eldest professor's -, black curls which fell to her shoulder blades. Her olive eyes stared straight through me as if she knew who I really was.

"Good Morning," The eldest professor said as the minute hand reached the twelve and the last student scurried to be seated in a desk. "My name is Joshua Ackermann and I will be your head counselor for your time here."

"My name is Chris Evans," The bodybuilder, Professor Evans, stated, "and I will be one of your co-counselors for this year."

"My name is Christina Thiessen, and I am also one of your co-counselors for this year. I teach history. Before we begin we will divide you into six groups of six –with one group of five – we ask that you move to our side of the room and stay with your group."

"My first group," Professor Ackermann began, "Consists of Thomas Finn, Helen Hamilton, Kassandra Fílos, Ledia Vasílissa, Alexander Megáli, and Christian Pevensie."

The other professors continued, and Annabel and I were called into the second group of Professor Ackermann, along with Liam, a guy named David, and a girl named Elizabeth.

When he had finished, Annabel and I went to the slightly curved row behind Helen's group, and I sat between Annabel and Elizabeth. The five of us sat there in awkward silence, before the guy at the end who sat next to Liam spoke up, "Well I'll be the icebreaker. My name is David Gordon. I live in Washington –the state, not the city. I'm hilarious so it's ok to laugh." He said in a kidding manner and wide smile, which showed that he was not trying to be conceited, before continuing, "Also, I'm from the Messengers of Hermes." I looked at him confused, for what on earth did that mean? The other three, though, looked at him and nodded slightly in understanding, as if this was a very common thing –a household name.

Annabel and then Liam introduced themselves, adding that they were from the Order of Hestia and the Servants of Persephone respectively. I still did not understand what these were, but I was beginning to think that I had somehow gotten into some strange group without knowing it – but maybe Dad had known about it and that was the reason he suggested this school.

The girl beside me began timidly, "My name is Rose Smith. I am from the St. Louis area. Chrissa, I mean Professor Thiessen is my aunt. And I'm from the Daughters of Athena." I was beginning to think that it was a group of Greek groups, and that maybe it was a Greek thing…. But then again none of those in my group were from Greece, and their names and appearances didn't seem of Greek origin either.

They looked at me, indicating it was my turn, so I took a break from my thoughts and began, "My name is Zoë Winters. I'm from Michigan. And I love to read."

"Me, too," Rose opened up, with the first smile I've seen from her. "What's your favorite book?"

"I don't really have a favorite book, per se," I began, "But _Harry Potter_ will always have a special place in my heart."

"Me, too," She added quieter, still smiling.

"What –" Annabel began before Professor Thiessen said, "Alright, now that you have introduced yourselves, your first project is to write a good paragraph about each member in your _group_ – not society- and what you have in common with each of them. It'll be due Monday morning, first thing when you come in for mythology."

"Now for the discussion part of our class," Professor Evans, began, "What is your favorite myth?"

Other people answered, some said Jason and the Argonauts, and others said the stories of Heracles, Perseus, Penelope, and such.

But an Amy Sullivan –a blonde, from the front row of Professor Thiessen's group) spoke up and said, "My favorite is the story of Hades and Persephone."

"That's only because you're in her group," Another light-brown haired girl – Katarina – from Professor Evan's second group (the superhero group, as David called them) added in a Russian accent.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Lucy, Rose's roommate, and a guy, Joshua, (both from Amy's group) asked at the same time.

"Exactly," Liam added.

"How can you like that story?" The other girl, Mei, in Amy's group asked in a snooty manner.

"Remember, Miss Ling, that we are to be respectful of other's opinions at all times," Professor Ackermann gently chided her.

But it was too late, for Mei continued condescendingly, "What's there to like about some creep who kidnapped a girl while she was playing in the meadow with the nymphs and forced her to stay with him for half of eternity."

I could feel my eyes turn to the dark gray of storm clouds, as anger bubbled up inside of me. I probably wouldn't have said anything if she hadn't been so patronizing. But that was my dad she was demeaning! My dad, who was my superhero and role model, was nowhere near the monster she was making him out to be! "Maybe she went willingly. Is there any factual proof that he had kidnapped her, and that she didn't go of her own accord?" I said trying to keep very calm.

"Of course, that's myth been around since the beginning of mythology!" Mei stated haughtily, and I wanted to go down and slap her. Annabel, who could apparently tell I was getting worked up, calmly placed her hand on top of mine.

"Miss Ling, Miss Winters," Professor Ackermann began warningly, and I wondered what exactly I was doing wrong. Was it that clear on my face that I wanted Mei to trip into a mud puddle?

"But Zoë's right," Annabel began, and I felt grateful to her for defending me. "I mean we've all played the game of Telephone, where you start off with a phrase and by the fifth person it has completely changed. Maybe she's right and Persephone went willingly with Hades. Maybe it had been a mutual agreement, an arranged marriage, perhaps."

"Anna's right, it could have been completely changed by the time someone wrote it down," Liam spoke up, "He may have not kidnapped her, and may not be the monster everyone likes to think he is."

"I agree with them," Rose said, "The myths were originally passed down verbally through the years before someone wrote them down. And in fact if you look at _original_ mythology, you'll see that he isn't some _creep_ like he's thought of today – that he's just a quiet, lonely person, who is trying to deal with life's handed him."

"I agree, maybe all four of them are right, and the actual myths that the world has told us are nowhere near what actually happened." David concurred, and I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude towards all of them for standing up for me –even though they had just met me – and agreeing that maybe my Dad wasn't as bad as Mei and modern society had suggest. (Which he wasn't.)

Others began to agree and Mei crossed her arms and started to brew silently, staring intensely at the floor.

"Very interesting topic, you are dismissed. See you tomorrow," Professor Ackermann stated when we had quieted down, before saying, "Miss Winters may I please speak with you?" I nodded, and the others of my group smiled at me encouragingly before leaving with others.

After most had left, including Professor Evans and Professor Thiessen, I stepped down to the center where Professor Ackermann was. "You're not in trouble, I'm just curious," He assured me, and I mentally kicked myself. Was I that obvious that I had revealed myself before school even officially begun? "Who are you?"

It was the second time within twelve hours, "My name is Zoë Winters, and I'm the daughter of Henry and Katherine, Kate, Winters."

This seemed to satisfy him – for now, as I could tell he didn't believe me completely, just as Annabel did last night…er, this morning. "Thank you, Miss Winters, see you tomorrow." I took this as my cue to leave and quickly did so to catch back up with my group.

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**Thank you for reading (and thank you _mrpuppy_ for reviewing)**

So yeah...you may notice that there are some people who seemed to be named after characters in other media and such, and yes they are _usually_ named after those characters and such (Like David, is named after Gordo from _Lizzie McGuire_... Coach/Professor Evans on the other hand is not named after the actor who plays Captain America) **and will _tend_ to have some characteristics of these characters **(Like Mei - who's alot like Mei Xing - from _The Girl in the Clockwork Necklace_... btw if you haven't read those books I _highly_ recommend them to you...) **The exception to this is the five main characters (**Liam Hawthorne, Annabel MacGhlais, Rose Smith and David Gordon -Zoë isn't named after anyone**)**

**The next chapter should be up sometime this upcomming weekend and it will be about the Olympic Societies, what they are, what they mean, etc... (Chapter 5 should be up about Sept. 19th and Chapter 6 will be uploaded on Zoë's -actual- birhtday!) **

**Also just wanting to let you know, this story is supposed to be close to like the actual date that what happens in the story takes place **(ie. Chapter 6 will be uploaded on Sept. 22 because that's when it is suggested -in the end of _Goddess Interrupted_ - Zoë's birthday is, and that's what Chapter 6 will be about)

**Anyways I hope you have a good Monday and rest of the week :)**


	4. Chapter 4: The Messengers of Olympus

T**hank you for reading**

**(Disclaimer: there are some characters and real people that are mentioned in this which are used fictiously. I'm meaning it as completely fictious, and just a small random part -fact- of the story...)**

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The rest of the week went by uneventful. there were more discussions about different Greek groupsand other 'mythology' topics. On Wednesday half of us played this game called basketball, and the other half played this other game called volleyball. (I played volleyball, which is a very interesting game.) On Friday we played another game called Capture the Flag – which was very fun and I loved it. There was even talks of starting a weekly capture the flag game.

The weekend I spent with Rose, Annabel, Liam, and David. And when we weren't working on our projects we were exploring the city (with others from our year). The first two days of school went by well, also. I was place in Liam and Amy's group, the Servants of Persephone, when it came to the Greek Group things. I still had no idea what they were, but I was grasping it more. It had something to do with my family, and soemthing you were born into.

Books thudded loudly as they fell beside me. I looked up to see Rose blushing apologetically as she pulled the chair beside me out and quickly scooted in. "Sorry," She murmured before letting her long maroon/ruby/auburn curls fall over her face as a wall, as she began to concentrate on the book before her. It was not even a minute, though, before she pushed half of her hair back, as she bent over her notebook and began scribbling down notes.

I observed her for a minute. From my current angle and with her thicker-black-framed glasses in the way, you couldn't tell how bright emerald-green her eyes were. But it didn't matter what angle you were at to tell that she was prettier than Helen and Abby combined, especially if you took away her green-lined glasses.

I was about to return back to my homework, before I noticed the intricate design of her pendant – which was sort of similar to different rings, bracelets, I've see the others of the Greek Groups have. "What does your necklace say, Rose?" I asked her, and she looked up at me surprised.

She took off the necklace and handed it to me. It was brass colored and had an olive tree on it with an owl on one of the branches of the tree. Around the edge of the shield-shaped crest was a Latin phrase with two Greek letters at the end, which I recognized to be 'FA'. The Latin phrase looked familiar, and when I glanced up at the top of the library walls I spotted it with two tiny owls on either side of it. "The olive tree and owl are symbols of Athena, and the Latin phrase is our society's motto, and the letters are the Latin abbreviation of our name – _Filiae__ Athena_."

"But what does it mean?" I asked, still staring at the crest, as if it held the answers.

"What? Our motto or _Filiae__ Athena_?" She asked, and I looked back up at her, and handed her necklace back.

"Both," I said, glancing back up at the different Latin phrases which line the top of all four walls of the library.

"Our motto or in English is, 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'" That motto seemed familiar to me, but I wasn't exactly sure where it was from.

"Is that-?"

"Ravenclaw's motto?" She asked and as soon as she said it I recognized it and nodded, "Yeah, it is. Ms. Rowling is part of, and is one of the two leaders of the Legacy of Hera. She uses many references to the Societies in her books. The Olympic Societies have had a great influence in history and literature/media."

"But what does that mean? I don't really understand any of this. What exactly are the Olympic Societies, the Daughters of Athena, the Legacy of Hera?" I asked, stressing each word.

She placed her bookmark back into her book and closed it and her notebook, she turned so she faced me. "You really have no clue?" She asked gently.

I shook my head, "No I don't know anything."

She nodded slowly, taking this in, "Well, the Messengers of Olympus or Olympic Societies is a group of eleven individual groups. They consist mostly of the representatives of the Olympians and Persephone – all except Hades, Zeus and Poseidon.

"At first we were only minor messengers between the gods and humans. We mostly worked and served in the temples. But when the gods decided to reinvent themselves over a thousand years ago, certain messenger families were chosen to represent almost each of the gods. Our goal was to be their embodiment to the world, to represent who they were. So that when the world saw us they saw what each of the gods represents; whether that be family, wisdom, bravery, children, love, messengers, comfort, light, etc. We were still to be messengers, if the gods had a specific message for the world they would come to our leaders and tell them – like around the turn of the century and 'go green' and 'saving the planet' that was done by the Followers of Demeter, which was a message to be given to the muggles, as we call them, or those not part of a society,"

"So like me?" I asked her,

She shook her head ardently, "No, I'm not sure what you were to be considered. For I believe you already knew about the whole Greek/Roman myths being real, before you came here – I don't know how, though. Muggles are not magical –like in _Harry Potter_, for wizards, Hogwarts, and Narnia are real, also – , not part of a society, and have no clue about any of this stuff – magic, myths being real, etc. – they think it is all made up. "

"Anyways," She continued, going back to topic, "As special messengers of the gods we were granted special powers to help us better represent them. Almost all Olympic members can hear and see better than normal human," She smiled slightly, "we are also stronger and can run faster. But then there are special powers that are given per group and these are passed from mother to daughter, and father to son. Like in my society it's passed down from mother to daughter. Now these will have something to do with something we're trying to represent…"

"Like, as Melissa said today," Liam began, startling me, "sorry," he murmured before setting his books on my other side, "the Servants of Persephone are supposed to comfort people, show them there's hope, and Lily was the best at just that. She always knew when you were upset and how to help you feel better again. Even though as her twin I'm supposed to be able to help others, like she could, I find that I never can – I never know the right words to say, how to say them, or when to say them." He glanced at me when he said this.

"Which was passed down from your mom?" Rose questioned.

Liam nodded, "Yeah, my mum used to be very good with saying the right thing, especially when we were younger and upset." He stared unseeingly at the book cover in front of him, and I knew this had something to do with Lily.

"Ok," I said, trying to file all the information they were giving me, purposefully changing the subject.

"So as such you will find that certain groups will generally have occupations that have to do with what our societies represent. Like Aunt Chrissa is a professor here and my mom is a high school English teacher. People in the Legacy of Hera will generally have jobs involving children and marriage. The Messengers of Hermes can be writers, or communication directors, or ambassadors and such. The Brotherhood of Apollo can be poets, musicians, doctors. The Sons of Ares will generally be involved with the military somehow. Etc. Etc."

"Like Myles and Sarah, Annabel's parents, are innkeepers." Liam added, "And Sarah makes the best food."

"But what happens if someone goes against their society. Like if you refuse to comfort people?" I asked looking at Liam, "Or does anything happen? What stops you from becoming rogues, from lording your powers over the muggles? What makes you serve the gods?"

Both of them grimaced, "Well you have very few people who go rogue. It goes against tradition and there are not so good consequences. And if I did something completely stupid, like jumping off a bridge, or gave you false advice then I would receive a horrible migraine, which would only go away if I got out of/fix that stupid situation and I gave you the proper advice. I did that once, last year – because one of the girls who were friendly towards me wanted my advice on how to ask the guy I liked to prom. I deliberately gave her the wrong advice and it wasn't good, until I told her how to really ask him to prom."

"Same here," Liam said, "Well not the whole asking to prom thing. If I saw you were upset and I ignored you or deliberately made you feel worse, I would receive the same horrible migraine. It teaches you very early on not to neglect your duties." He shook his head at some memory of it.

"But back to your question on why we serve the gods. Once the gods fade, like, for instance, if Athena faded then all of Rose, Emily, and Katarina's families would die out all of a sudden. Same thing with the rest of the groups. Mine, though, is a little different, our families will die out when no one knows the story of Persephone anymore, and when we no longer help people out."

"Going back to the whole powers thing, what about your siblings?"

"Well it depends, the way it works out is very complicated. Pretty much if both your parents are of the same society then you and your brothers and sisters would have those gifts, and almost the same potential. The same thing with twins, for they are considered one – which is why you can have some from the brotherhood of Apollo with gifts from the Sisterhood of Artemis and vice versa. But if it's like my family, where only my mom is part of a society, then I receive those gifts, and my little brother doesn't. I mean he still does well in school and is good at strategy, but not like me. And if it was just my dad then my brother would receive those gifts and I would only have part of it. I mean I would still have the Olympic gifts, but not those of my society. Does that make any sense?"

I nodded, it made a little bit of sense but it still confused me. But I was getting the whole gist of all of the Olympic Society information. "So what is your society's motto?" I asked Liam,

"_Suus semper nigerrimus ante lucem_" He said like he's repeated many times over,_ "_or 'It's always darkest before the dawn'. It's to remind us that though times look tough and hard now there is always light up ahead." I liked his motto, it was a good thing to remember throughout life.

"I'm curious, did you know about the myths being real before you came here?" Rose asked changing the subject.

"Yes," I answered her, for they would know otherwise.

"How?"

I paused to get my answer together, for I couldn't tell her the complete truth. I was sworn to secrecy and I didn't want to be smitten or expose my family –even if they knew about them. "My family told me." I said truthfully.

They both looked at me curiously, trying to figure out how my family knew when they weren't part of the Olympian Societies. Not wanting to be around for any further questioning I gathered my books and said in a friendly manner, "Well good night. Thank you so much for explaining everything to me. I'll see you both in the morning." And with that I turned around to go back to my room.

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**Hello :) I hope hope that answered any questions you might have had with the whole Olympic Societies thing. If you happen to have any other questions about anything in this story just ask, and I will try to answer you (unless it contains spoilers, in which case I would try to answer it in a way that wouldn't give anything away.  
(Yes, the Society members are supposed to have very keen sense of sight and hearing, but occasionally you will get a few member who are like Rose and need glasses, or can't hear as well. These will usually make up for it, though, by becoming even more acute in the other senses. Like Rose is able to hear a whole lot better than Liam, David or Annabel.) And if you're curious on what the consequences are of going rogue, if you ignore the three warnings then all of your family and friends will die in some sort of freak accident - ie. getting struck by lighting, being mauled by a raccoon, just really weird ways - and depending on the severity you and your friends/family will either not have an after life, or you will all be tortured for the rest of eternity... so not good at all and I think there's only been three in the history of the Societies.  
**

**(BTW, thank you KC for reviewing)  
**

**So if you have a twitter account and you don't follow Ms. Carter, you really should, because she's been quoting lines from the _Goddess_ _Inheritance_ including the first line... Speaking of which it makes it seem like that Walter is Kate's dad but in this story, if it comes up, Phillip is Kate's dad and even tho it has been said that someone dies in _Inheritance_ in this story no one really does die. Also, I appologize in advance for any spoilers which may be scattered throughout this story. **

**Anyways I'm hoping to have the next chapter up on Wednesday (but it may be a day or two late, cuz of volleyball and such) and then Chapter 6 up on Saturday (again it may be a day or two late because we have a warm-up Bible Quiz that day)... and this chapter -4- should be the last of the informational chapters (there may be on or two in the future) but mostly -from here on out- I'm gonna try to develop relationships/friendships**

**Anywho, I hope you all have a wonderful week  
-Becca  
(P.S. I'm sorry for any grammar, language, and dialogue mistakes that may have occured)**


	5. Chapter 5: Capture the Flag

**Hello, and thank you for reading!**

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School went by very well. I was soon able to get into the swing of things (able to balance school, homework, and friendships). Rose and Liam didn't bring up the topic of my family and how they knew about the myths without being a member.

Some nights – when we were finished with homework and studying – the five of us would play card games. Each one of us taught the others games we grew up with, and I taught them games that I played with my parents.

The Capture the Flag game that we played during orientation week grew so popular that some of the people from my year and some upperclassmen started a Capture the Flag game which would begin tonight.

The five of us had signed up to play, in fact Liam and David were chosen as tonight's captains. Everyone was to meet outside our building, to go over the rules and guidelines and such, which was where Annabel, Rose, Lucy and I were headed.

We were one of the first few people there, but once everyone arrived two of the upper-classmen stepped up several of the stairs. "Happy September, I hope you all are having a good school year. First years, if no one has said this to you, I would like to welcome you and I'm glad you have decided to join our family. My name is Jordan, and this is Lee," He pointed to himself and then the other upperclassmen guy, "And we're known as the gamers."

"That being said," Lee began, "We were more than happy to help out when Andrew, Chris, David, Liam, Nathan, Maggie and Emily wanted to create a weekly Capture the Flag game. So instead of standing up here as if like this was all our idea, I'll let them explain everything to you."

"Welcome, and thank you for joining us," Andrew began stepping up the first few stairs, where Lee and Jordan had stood. "So this will be a weekly event, every Friday night. News will be posted on the board outside of the library, so check it out."

Chris and Nathan then came up and Nathan explained where the boundaries and where each side was. And Chris explained the rules and how everything worked. Afterwards, Liam and David proceeded to choose their own teams. I was chosen to be on Liam's team, along with Annabel, others from my year and others, still, whose names I weren't exactly sure.

"The flags have already been hidden – in sight – and now you may have five minutes to discuss strategy and game plans." Jordan said after the teams had been chosen.

"We'll keep time and moderate, before joining our respective sides." Lee continued, and looked at his watch, "Your time begins now!"

Liam gathered us a little bit away from the building. "The flag is buried in the garden, among the tiger lilies with the barest hint of it showing." He told us quietly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

"So what's the plan?" Josh asked from the other side of Amy.

Emily spoke up after ten/fifteen second of silence, "We should send two or three people out to search for their flag – very discreetly, of course. Then we should use decoys and have only two people guarding both the flag and the prison."

"Where is the prison?" Kassi asked.

"Amongst the circle of trees over there," Liam pointed to the cluster of trees (in our territory) a ways in the opposite direction as the garden. "So is everyone good with Emily's strategy?" Everyone nodded, "Would anyone like to add anything else?"

"We should have a signal to use when someone finds the flag," Griffin suggested, "And then when the signal sounds, several of us going running across the line and act as decoys so someone can take the flag back to our side."

"What will our signal be?" An upperclassmen girl, whose name I later found out was Chelsea, asked.

Several suggestions were called out, including a two note bird-whistle. "That," Liam said, duplicating the whistle. "When you hear the signal, repeat it once."

"Ok, now who's a decoy, scouts, guards?" Christian inquired, trailing off at the end.

"Annabel, Edmund, Grace, and Jason will search for the flag. Sam and Thomas Finn will guard the flag. Maggie, Emily and Zoë will be the prison guards. Helen, Lucas, and Charlotte will scout on the other side, being distractions if need be. And then Jennifer, Christina, and Sarah will be the scouts on our side (and run when signal sounds)." He looked up at us to make sure this was alright with us all.

"Thirty seconds," Lee said, walking towards us.

"Any questions, comments, concerns?" Liam looked around at all of us, but nobody said a word.

"Time," Jordan shouted, "BEGIN!"

People began moving about. "Helen! Annabel!" Emily whisper-shouted and they looked up at her. "Go around," She whispered, pointing to the trees and motioning with her hands to go around through the trees. They gave her a thumbs-up before Helen sprinted stealthily towards the trees. Annabel quickly followed behind her.

Emily and I went to join Maggie by the trees, where –after a while – I noticed that she and Maggie were very analogous. They both had the same accent. They both had similar, thoughtful, adventurous personalities, with hints of a fiery temper which would match the color of Maggie's copper curls. Don't take this to mean that they weren't welcoming. For they, like most people here, were some of the friendliest people you would ever meet. (Just don't mess with them, for they knew how to defend themselves.)

"So how are you today, Zoë?" Maggie asked me from a few trees away.

"I'm good and you," I replied politely, on alert for anyone who didn't belong.

"I'm very good, thank you." She stated sweetly, taking a half-step closer to me –while still facing out towards the flag. "How is your family?"

"I don't know, I haven't talked to them since arriving here." I stated truthfully. I mean I left my parents a message, but they didn't call back. And I hadn't heard anything from anyone else; it was almost like I was being purposefully left alone.

"No one?" Emily asked, astonished, stepping out from the trees to my right. "No messages, emails, face-times, or anything since Orientation?"

"Nothing," I said quietly. It actually hadn't bothered me until they brought it up. But now a wave of homesickness washed over me, and I wished to see my parents' handwriting, hear their voice, or anything.

"Oh, Sweetie," They both said caringly, stepping closer to me.

"What's going on?" Liam asked. An upperclassman from the David's team was behind him.

"Have you heard from your family since Orientation?" Emily quickly asked him.

He seemed confused, but responded, "Not really. I talked to my dad for five minutes on the first day." They looked sympathetically at him too. "Why?"

"I can't imagine that, not talking to my mom or dad for a month," Emily began

"Me neither," Maggie agreed,

"But it doesn't matter, because we are all each other's second family now," Emily concluded, "Including you, Will." She added, speaking to Liam's prisoner. He smiled slightly, before going further into the trees and joining the few other prisoners.

There was the sound of running across the dried September grass, several feet a head and to the left, "Got to go." Liam said before going towards the sound of running.

"So you're an only child?" Maggie questioned, still close to me, but turned back towards where we could see some of the other team members running across the more opened area, ducking between the buildings.

"Yeah,"

"Did you have any cousins to play with? Any pets?" They asked me.

"I have cousins, but they're all much older than I am. I had two dogs, Pogo and Cerberus." I responded.

"What happened to them?" Maggie asked concerned.

"We still have Cerberus, but Pogo died when I was twelve." I stated, as there was a rustling in the trees near us, and the three of us froze, staring at the spot.

Rose came slipping through the trees. "Hello, Rose," Emily said overly friendly.

"Hello, Emily, Maggie, Zoë," She stated, as I came closer towards her. "Zoë, since we're best friends and all, would you like to tell me where the flag is?"

I smiled at her brightly, creeping towards her, "I'm sorry, I think that goes against the rules of the game."

"It was worth the try," She stated, smiling. I was almost within reaching distance of her. Taking the last three steps, I reached out and tagged her. "Really, Zoë? I thought we were friends." She said in a joking manner, before going back into the trees.

Suddenly, we heard the whistle. The three of us repeated, it as we heard lots of running from either side of us. The leaves began to crunch quicker together as Helen and Lucas ran from the inner woods, continually passing the flag between themselves. David and others from his team were chasing them as Helen and Lucas pushed further towards the garden. Others of our team went towards Helen and Lucas, trying to stand in and defend them from our opponents.

Looking, between Maggie and Emily, I stepped closer towards our flag, as did the others. Lucas and Helen were now in the garden, and were quickly searching through the different flowers and plants to find the tiger lilies. Helen handed him the flag, and he sped –quicker than I had seen anyone else run –towards the orange flowers, glancing for the orange flowers. Helen had already gone towards the orange flowers, and quickly and carefully sifting through the flowers until the two of them had found the orange square (or flag) and they held both flags up high in the air.

Smiling the three of us, and the prisoners, went towards the group that was gathering around the triumphant group.

"Congratulations to Liam's team," Jordan stated, "And very well done, Lucas and Helen. The next captains will be randomly chosen tonight, and those who are chosen will be notified tomorrow. Teams will be posted by Thursday afternoon. Hope you all have a good week, see you next week."

The five of us gathered together, "Good game, mate," Liam said to David, and he congratulated him.

I turned to Rose, "No hard feelings?"

"None whatsoever," She stated with a smile.

"Good game," Emily came up to say to each of us, "I wish you well, see you later," She said to me before she left with Griffin, Jayne, and Maggie. And the five of us soon followed, leaving to go back to the common room.

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**I hope you enjoyed it (Thank you mrpuppy and KC for reviewing)**

**So have you guys seen/read the back cover for "Goddess Inheritance"? Oh my goodness, so it sounds completely darker/more intense than I thought it would be... **

Also I forgot to mentioned. I heard the awesomest song on Sunday it's called "Overjoyed" by Matchbox Twenty... it's one of the sweetest songs I've heard (If you look it up on Youtube click on the "Official Audio" because it's the sweetest "music video" I've seen, it's similar to the Ellie/Carl sequence in "UP")

**Anyways the next chapter should be up tomorrow night... Cuz tomorrow's Zoe's birthday! (I think, pretty sure it is)**

**Hope you have a good Saturday (Weekend)  
-Becca**


	6. Chapter 6: Happy Birthday

**So thank you for reading (sorry for any mistakes in the last chapter, or this one)**

**Just to let you know when I usually use italics for thougts, dreams, flashbacks or letters. Since this chapter has several flashbacks letters are between *'s (Flashbacks are in italics)**

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Sunshine shone brightly through the thin curtains that covered the window Annabel and I shared. It was my first birthday that I've actually woken up to sunshine, and it made me begin to miss my home a little bit. I began to picture what my parents would be doing if I were home. Since it was a Monday, both Mom and Dad would be up by now and in their throne rooms, beginning for their longer day – since they didn't work yesterday. Sundays were always the days the three of us spent together.

I glanced over and saw that Annabel had left to get ready for the day. The side door opened and light filtered through the room for a second before disappearing. "Good morning, Zoë." She said brightly when she saw that I was awake.

"Good morning," I said, before hopping up, taking my clothes for the day, and headed towards the abandoned bathroom to brush my teeth, and comb my hair. When I came back, I gathered up my books and placed them in my backpack and then we headed down to Mythology together.

"_Happy Birthday, Zoë, dear." My mom said sweetly as she came into my room after I had awakened. _

"_Thank you, Mommy!" I said excitedly, smiling brightly, looking forward to the day._

"_Happy birthday!" Aunt Ava and Grandma both said as they came into my room. I looked up at my mom, curious on what was happening._

"_It's a surprise," Mom said as she laid out my clothes for the day and helped me get dress._

"Good morning, class," Professor Ackerman stated as the minute hand reached the twelve. "I hope you had a wonderful weekend. This week we'll be learning about the heroes."

"_Where are we going?" I asked as Aunt Ava drove down a long road, after we reached the surface on the sunny, crisp, fall day. _

"_It's a surprise," They both said, and I leaned further against the seat of my car seat, and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes we were in a big city. I stared out the closest window at the skyscrapers, fascinated by everything that was going on around me. It was very, very, _very_ rarely that I saw tall buildings…or any buildings, for that matter, outside of my home. Aunt Ava pulled up to a small booth, she handed the person something and he handed her back something else. She thanked him and pulled through the gate and parked. Grandma came back to help me out of my car seat._

"_Why are we here?" I asked her as I hopped out of the car. _

"_Your birthday surprise," She stated softly, and I stared quizzically at the tan bricked-building with roof to street windows. She and Aunt Ava took my hands in theirs and we began to move towards the building._

_As we got closer, I noticed a large Princess poster, "Are we going to see the Princesses?" Excitement started to slip into my voice at the prospect of seeing Princesses._

"_Happy Birthday," Aunt Ava said, and I looked up at her to see if this meant 'yes' or not. She nodded and I smiled animatedly._

"_Really?!" Grandma nodded, and – as best as I could – hugged them. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I began to bounce, which was not a good thing considering that we were about to cross the busy street._

"_Calm down, Sweetie," Grandma said, as the street began to clear and we crossed it._

Professor Ackerman gave a short summary on each of the heroes we would be discussing this week. He seemed to give equal time to each of them, except Jason, who he summarized in much less time than he outlined the others. Class ended and I went back to our room to gather my books for my sociology class, which is my favorite class.

My seventh birthday happened to fall on a Sunday of that year – which meant that I could spend it with my parents. And we decided to celebrate it in Central Park – specifically Sheep Gate.

_I watched in wonder as my parents and I appeared in the middle of a large meadow, a picnic basket was in Mom's hand. Inside the picnic basket were white cupcakes with purple frosting, which I helped Mom make. _

_Mom set everything up, and bought hotdogs, as Dad and I played catch. Afterwards, we sat down, and Mom handed me a hotdog. I took and watched the families around me, while Mom said something about a large dog coming. But I didn't pay much attention to them; I continued looking at all the different sights around me. There was a lake several feet away, which Mom made sure I avoided like the plague. Dad came beside me and I smiled brightly up at him, "Happy Birthday, Zo. I wish you an infinite number more." _

When I came back to my room that afternoon, there was a medium-sized cardboard box with an envelope glued on top, on my desk. *_To Zo__ë*_ was written on the envelope in my mom's handwriting. I carefully took the envelope from the box. I slid my find under the flap, and retrieved the letter from inside. I began to read Mom's note.

_*Dearest Zo__ë__,_

_I wish you a very happy birthday, and I wish you well with your school year. It seems so strange not having you here._

_I'm sorry if it seems that we haven't been in touch, but I can't explain those reasons now. I'll come there soon and we can discuss it then, along with your life there._

_I miss you and love you. See you soon,_

_Mom*_

I flipped the sheet over and read Dad's letter, which he wished me a happy birthday and well in school.

I read through both of them again. As I did I could hear their voices as if they were actually saying this to me in person, and it made me miss them. But something seemed strange about both of their notes, and it made me curious on what was happening in the "mythological" world.

_It was my eighteenth birthday, and like my seventh birthday it fell on a Sunday again. I had finished my official schooling in May, and since then Mom was teaching me more about what she did – for when/if I needed to help them. But that day we took a break from going over and observing different types of people and how to specifically help each person._

_That day instead of going to New York or Milwaukee or anywhere else, we stayed home, played card games and ate the cupcakes I made._

Rose and Annabel came in sometime later, after I finished my homework, and the three of us went to play games in Liam and David's room.

As I opened the door they all shouted, "Happy Birthday!" David and Liam were in the center of the room with a chocolate frosted cupcake (with sprinkles on top) and cards in front of them. There were three other stack of cards, each with a cupcake.

I stood in the doorway, surprised and unable to help the smile that was spreading across my face.

"Surprise," Annabel said, from behind me, "Happy birthday, Zoë," She continued with a smile in her voice.

"Thank you, all of you." I said, stepping inside.

"Now come on," David said, with mock impatience, "I think I've finally figured out that Durak game and can finally beat you."

"Sure," I said, with a laugh, and sat between Rose and Liam, among my best friends.

I spent my nineteenth birthday with my second, and almost as true, family, playing Durak, ERS, Speed, Blackjack, and other games, laughing and enjoying ourselves.

"_You are growing up so fast." Dad told me that night, as I was about to go to bed, "So always remember it's never too late or too early to be whoever you want to be, to change, to make the best or worst of a situation, and remember to always show more kindness than seems necessary – for you will never know what effects it will have on them. Happy Birthday, Zo, I love you."_

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**So I hope you enjoyed it! Happy First day of fall (for 3 or so minutes) :)  
I'm sorry if Kate or Henry seem sort of out of character**

**Zoe is four when she sees the Princess show (it's sort of like an actual theatrical show, and how I think ice shows are)... and the princesses are Disney princesses...**

**Anyways I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but it will probably have Kate actually in it...**

**Hope you have a good day  
****- Becca**

**(P.S. What Henry says at the very end is a mixture of two quotes, one is by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the other is unknown.  
Also Zoe is an almost perfect combination of Henry and Kate in both appearance and personality, but she is a little closer to her dad - and Henry understands her more than Kate does. And Zo is what he calls her, his nickname for her, and he's the only one -for now- who calls her that.)**


	7. Chapter 7: The Ball

**Hello, sorry for the wait  
**

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This week was…strange in mythology. "And then finally one day, Jason was brutally murdered by one of his former crewmen." Doesn't sound that strange, does it? But it was the way Professor Ackerman said it (as if he hated Jason, and that he wished something like this or worse would happen to him, than what really happened, as if he was the one who murdered him) and the facts that I later found while researching for our group project (that Jason was either killed by his ship or didn't die at all) that caused me to question Professor Ackerman's statement. Maybe he was correct – for he was teaching the mythology class to the Societies of Olympus, and why would he hide any information from them who knew that what he was teaching about was real. And though my mom and dad taught me mythology/history, they mostly stuck with the stories that dealt with my family – the Olympians. And while what Professor Ackerman said was probably true, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me there was more to his story – that he was hiding something.

The Saturday following my birthday, I came back from finishing our project and making flash cards with Rose to find someone in my room.

They were sitting on the edge of my bed and staring at the photo on my bedside table. "I really liked this photo," She said, as she stood up and turned towards me.

"Mom" I said, as I went to hug her.

She tightened her arms around me, like she has always done when she hugged me – since that time fifteen years ago – just to reassure herself that I was still there, still safe. "I've missed you," She whispered into my ear before she let me go. "You know you can come back at any time."

"I've missed you too, Mom. But I don't want to go back, I _like_ it here. I've made so many friends. The people are so nice here. This is something I need to do." I repeated what I had said when I left.

She nodded slightly in understanding, but still asked, "But how do you really like it here? Are the people mean to you? Are you able to catch up with the work? Have you made any friends?"

I smiled at her, "I love it here. I like my classes. The people are very nice here. I mean sure you have some people who are kinda clique-ish, and then there's Mei – who doesn't like me because I stood up against her for/with Amy in Dad's defense. But I really like it here. And, yes I've made friends here. Annabel and Rose are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet. David is just a fun person to be around, and if you're having a bad day he will make it his goal to cheer you up again. And Liam," I paused, not sure how to sum up Liam, "Liam is really nice, like the others. But I feel so bad for him. He lost his sister, and I'm determined to comfort him – to help him feel better." Mom looked at me and smiled knowingly and suspiciously. "No, not like that, it's just – I don't know."

"It's ok, I understand." She continued smiling, and continued sincerely "Well I'm glad you like it here."

"So how everything at home?" I asked her, and her smile dropped. And I wondered if this had part of the reason for the oddness in her and Dad's notes last week.

"Well, everything's good…" She trailed off. After a moment she straightened and whispered, "Walter has forbidden us to talk or interact with you."

"Is that why…?" She nodded, "What will happen if you're caught?"

"Doesn't matter," She said in a normal tone, before whispering again, "They've also decided to test you."

"For immortality – like you?"

"Yes," She paused, and the words began to sink in.

Anxiety began to bubble up inside of me. "Does this mean that if I fail, I'll never see or remember any of you?"

She nodded, and I began to panic. Unlike some, I loved my parents – my family – and was close to them. So the thought of never seeing them…"Don't worry, Sweetie, no one can stop me from seeing you – unless it is your desire."

"How long do I have? How many tests are there? And what are they over?" I asked, trying to organize my thoughts.

"From my understanding, you'll be tested during your time here – as long as you are studying – and it will be a continual thing, unlike when they tested me. But you must understand I'm getting this second-hand from Ava. But if you do what we've been teaching you over the years – be kind to others, be humble, share, don't let your anger get the best of you, don't become jealous, don't lie, etc. – you'll do fine."

"So I'll know if I failed or passed, when I graduate?" She nodded, "How are they going to do that?"

She didn't answer, as the door clicked to unlock, and she shifted her appearance – to look older. And I realized the answer to my question, my family could shift their appearances and I would have no idea - most likely.

Annabel came in, and stopped when she saw Mom. "Annabel, this is my Mom, Kate. Mom, this is my friend, Annabel."

Annabel smile warmly, and went to shake her hand, "Hello, Mrs. Winters, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Mom returned the gesture, and replied, "It's nice to meet you, too. Zoë's told me about you. Thank you for being kind to her."

"Most definitely, Zoë's a sweetheart. Can I get you something, help you in anyways?" She had set her books on her desk and turned her full attention to Mom.

"No, thank you though. I should be leaving now."

"I'll walk you down," I added.

Mom smiled brightly one last time at Annabel and told her, "Again, thank you." As we exited the room, she turned to me and asked, "Just for curiosity's sake, who are those in her pictures."

"Her family, pets, but mostly Lily and Liam." I answered as we walked towards the staircase.

"Liam, as in your Liam?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, my friend, Liam." I said, trying to hide the blush that was creeping on my face, as Kassi and Ledia walked towards us, coming to their room. "Hi, Kassi, hi, Ledia," I said, changing the subject, "How are you today?"

"Very good, thank you," Kassi began, "And who's your friend?" she asked timidly.

"This is my mom,"

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Winters." Kassi said graciously.

"Indeed, it's nice meeting you, Mrs. Winters." Ledia repeated, and Mom stared at her quizzically for a second longer than usual, before returning their greetings, and we continued on our way.

Once we were by the edge of the staircase, Mom pulled me into another tight hug. "We love you, and miss you. Just remember be yourself, do as we taught you, and you'll do fine."

"But what if I fail?"

She stepped further away from the door way, and whispered close to me, "I failed one of my tests." I was about to ask her how, but she stopped me by continuing in her comforting tone, "It'll all be okay," and then added with a smile, "This isn't the end of the world. I'll talk to you soon. Bye," and with that she disappeared.

Footsteps came clambering up the stairs and within ten seconds Liam was in front of me. "You, ok, Zoë? I thought I heard you talking with someone."

"Yeah, I'm good, thank you." I said quietly, and then fell in step with him.

Mom was right; this wasn't the end of the world. And if I _did_ fail, I still had Liam and Rose, Annabel and David. Even if the council did wipe away my memories of them and my family, they couldn't erase Annabel, Rose, Liam, David. And if I still had them, then everything wouldn't be so horrible – everything would turn out fine.

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**Hope you enjoyed it. (Thank you mrpuppy for reviewing)**

**If you are wondering, Zoë will be tested very similarly to Kate - except she won't become Queen of the Underworld and marry Henry, that's kinda creepy :). She will be tested continually, over the four years she will be there, - ie. she will continually be tested for jealousy and etc. Yes, she will be tested over the 7 deadly sins, like Kate. Except Zoë doesn't know what the tests are over. She also doesn't know what Kate was tested on - all she know is that her mom and 11 other girls before her mom were tested to be Queen of the Underworld, and that Kate passed.**

**(Also, who Zoë is reffering to as her family at the end is: Henry, Kate, Ava and Diana - these are who she usually refers to when she says her family. Sometimes she means just Kate and Henry -most of the time in this instance she just calls them her parents-, and other times she is refering back to the whole council -like in the beginning) If you are curious as to what Professor Ackerman is hiding, that will be revealed in two weeks. Also what event that causes Kate to start hugging Zoë tighter will be revealed in December-January/March. **

**So over the two weeks since I have last updated, this story has reached over 500 views! (thank you bunches for reading) and as a thank you here's a sneak peak of something that should happen in March (but it's introduced in December-January)**

_All of my being wanted to close my eyes, so I couldn't see her trying to hurt them, but my eyes refused to obey. I watched in horror as she took aims at each of my parents. Finally I was able to break away from watching her, and instead stared at the iron cuffs that seized my wrists and hands. I tried clawing at them, trying everything in my four-year-old power to break free.  
_**I shall try to give you guys another sneak peak in 74-ish more views (then every five-hundred).  
**

**Anyways I had another little piece of writing for you guys (as an appology for taking so long) but... yeah I'll try to either update this later this weekend with it (when I'm finished) or next chapter. (It would be about "Hey I've decided to test Zoë" from Ava -3rd Person- and Kate's POVs)**

**The next chapter should be up either later this weekend or next and it will be about Zoë's big mythology test -which is what she and Rose were making flash cards for- and her and Rose. Chapter 9 will about Professor Ackerman (and the results of Zoë's test). SO yeah...**

**Hope you have a good rest of the week  
-Becca**

**(P.S. if you are wondering about the title of the chapter... it's the title of Chapter 9 in "Goddess Test", which is when Kate agrees to be tested)**


	8. Chapter 7 pt 2: Freedom of Choice

**Hello and thank you for reading :)**

**I'm sorry this took so long (and I appologize in advanced for any out of character -ness)**

**The first part is in Ava's POV (3rd Person) and the second is Kate's (first person) and it's about Zoë being tested...**

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Ava sat in her throne as her "dad" gathered all the members (except Henry, Kate, and Calliope – who nobody, except probably Walter, had heard from in fifteen or so years) together for one of his bi-monthly meetings. After everyone arrived he greeted them and began with minor announcements – what was going on with the mortals and such.

"Another thing," He began, glancing between her and Diana, and Ava knew what he was going to say had something to do with either Kate or Zoë "As some of you know, Kate and Henry's daughter, Zoë, has decided to go to school with the humans. She has decided to live a 'normal' life, and as such I declare that none of us will interpose with that decision by interacting her in any way." Others agreed quietly with him.

Ava stared inquisitively at him, "Including Kate and Henry?"

"Yes, I have also decided, since she is old enough, that she will be tested for immortality while she is away at this school."

He was about to go on to other matters when she stopped him. "But if we're deciding Zoë's fate, shouldn't Kate, Henry, and/or Zoë be here?"

He looked at her as if the answer should be very obvious to her, "Zoë's fate has already been decided, and so there is no use in discussing it. Neither Zoë nor Kate are council members, therefore they are not privy to these meetings. And this does not affect Henry or his duties. And as such, you are not allowed to communicate any of this with any of them – do you understand, Ava?"

He continued to stare at her intensely, daring her to question/disobey him. At last, she nodded, and he continued with what he had on his agenda. But Ava remained silent throughout the rest of the meeting, not paying much attention to what was being said.

She couldn't understand how the deciding of your child's fate didn't directly affect you –for she would've wanted to know if her dad decided to test Eros for his immortality. Now Walter wasn't known for being the example father-figure (except to her, of course), but surely he could understand how that would affect Henry – that Henry cared deeply for Zoë. (She couldn't understand why they needed to test Zoë in the first place. Anyone who knew her knew she was a very well-grounded person, like Kate and Henry. And then there was the fact that she was a daughter of the gods.) Maybe it was because he was jealous; maybe it was sibling rivalry; maybe it was he just wanted to prove he was in charge; maybe it was because he just decided it that way. But whatever his reasoning, Ava determined that she would let both of them know as soon as the meeting was over – despite her father's commands.

*~*#*~***(****Kate's POV****)***~*#*~*

I glanced up, almost finished for the day, to see Ava standing in the doorway of the throne room. I smiled at her and she returned it with a half-smile, before slipping into one of the back pews. After we had decided the man's fate, I went back to her.

I smiled and greeted her with a hug. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" I asked, after taking a half-step away from her. Henry came beside me, I leaned in closer to him and he took my hand.

"There is something I need to tell you. And despite what others say, I think it affects both of you." She began quietly, not her normal overly-cheery self, and I wondered what was wrong.

"And what is that?" Henry asked.

"Walter has forbidden all of us from interacting with Zoë in anyway. He has also decided that she will be tested for immortality while she is away." It took me a second to comprehend her words. That we were not allowed to see Zoë, talk to her or anything until Walter decided otherwise. And that he was deciding her fate without letting us know. (We knew this was coming, that they were going to test her - but I thought it would be much later, and that we would be told when.)

"Does she know?" I would be better with being kept in the dark if Zoë wasn't with us.

"No, the three of you aren't supposed to know anything." She said quietly and hesitantly. Gratitude and vexation began building up inside of me. I was grateful for Ava, grateful that she risked the consequences to inform us of what was going on. But I began to grow aggravated towards Walter for not telling at least Zoë about this. I mean where's the freedom of choice? (I was given the freedom to choose, at least, whether I wished to be tested or not – told that I was going to be.) Now I know that Zoë would –most likely – pass, if it was the same (just because that's how she is and how we raised her). But still, it was the whole principle of the situation.

"And has this already begun?"

"I think it's about to," She said, gaining confidence.

"And will it be the same?" I asked her quietly.

She nodded, "Over the same concepts, yes, not exactly the same situations." I inwardly let out a sigh of relief, at least no one would be attempting (and succeeding) to kill her for her test of wrath. "That's the test for everyone." She added quieter, and then smiled slightly, returning more towards 'normal' Ava. "If I hear anything else I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Ava."

"No problem." She said, before turning to me and saying cheerfully, "Now, Kate, we need to get together – soon."

"Most definitely,"

"I'll let you know when," She said taking a step backwards towards the doors.

"Alright," I said, "and thank you, Ava, for everything."

"It's no problem," She said with a bright smile, "For you're my best friend," And with that she disappeared out the door.

I turned back – if Walter didn't want us to know, then I would act as if Ava didn't tell us anything.

And that's what I did – for the most part. I went on as if I never heard anything. I _did_ , though, not talk to Zoë for a while – as respect to her choice, and allowing her to get settled into her new life, and not having anything to do with Walter's decision. But after a while, when the days turned into weeks, I began to question this choice. _What if she didn't like it there? What if she needed us, but couldn't get a hold of us?_ I will admit these probably came from selfish reasoning (I missed her. It was strange for her not to be here.) But I couldn't stop carring and worrying about her - no matter how old she was.

So as her birthday approached, I made plans to see her. But when I arrived in her room that day, I found there was no one there. So I left her gift and our notes on her desk and left – making plans to see her the following Saturday.

I had barely gotten back from seeing Zoë that Saturday, when Walter's voice came booming louder than thunder, vibrating into the throne room just as he did. "KATHERINE WINTERS!" He called out, in the same manner as when a parent calls their child out by their full first and middle name when they were in deep trouble. (I've done this with Zoë a few times.) Electricity crackled around him.

I stood, staring at him, unable to look away from the death glare he was giving me. I was sure that if Henry wasn't there that Walter would have electrocuted me into a pile of ashes. Finally, after about forty-five seconds (after I had time to gather my thoughts together), I was able to look away from him, and reluctantly I started down the aisle towards him.

"Surely you must know why I'm here." He said, authority was still in his voice, but it didn't send the walls quivering – yet.

"Indeed you are mistaken. I have no idea as to what we owe the honor of having you here." I said, acting -probably- too innocent, thankful that my eyes didn't change colors when I lied – like Zoë's did.

"You have deliberately disobeyed me, Katherine." His voice was starting to shake the walls again, "You have directly gone against my command – twice."

I should have been afraid. I should have admitted everything to him. But I was still peeved at him for keeping Zoë in the dark, that I continued my overly innocent ruse. "I have no idea what you mean, dear Uncle. I will admit, though, that I have visited the surface after the Autumnal Equinox, but I had permission to do so." He glanced back at Henry, who had come closer to us, before continuing to glare at me.

"I have gathered from a close and reliable source that you have interacted with Zoë twice within the last week." He stated glancing between us. And I began to wonder who his source was, how reliable they were, and how did they know about this – for I had _just_ gotten back from Zoë's.

Giving up the ruse for the most part, I asked, "Since when is wishing my daughter 'happy birthday' against the rules? I've done it for the eighteen years prior."

His glare deepened, signaling that I was going too far. But he decided to ignore my tone and continued in his normal patronizing manner, "It has been decided, to honor Zoë's wishes, by not interacting with her in anyway while she is away." He had a point, but that didn't mean I agreed with his logic and execution. I didn't think that these were results she was wishing for when she left.

"But since when was this decision put into place, and why weren't we informed of it." My voice was growing closer to normal, but I was still trying to have him confess that he didn't want us to know anything.

"It has been decided for over a month." He stated in an overtly condescending way.

It was his manner of 'we should have known telepathically – be mind-readers –' that cause my frustration to flare, but I tried to reply calmly, "Then why haven't we heard of this until now?"

"Because it does not involve you, Katherine," Haughtiness saturated each syllable of his words, and I fought to keep quiet, "She will also be tested while she is away." Then he added, "All of this makes sense if you use logic."

_Faulty logic_, I added mentally, but I returned, trying to put up a false-calmness, "But does she know about this?" I already knew the answer, based on her reaction this afternoon.

"No, she knows too much and therefore cannot be judged fairly if told." Before I could protest, and tell him that Zoë knows nothing about what the tests are over and that she should have a test, he turned to Henry and said, "You have been silent, Brother. What are your thoughts?"

He replied, composed –as always- , "What point is there in speaking? I know you have already decided Zoë's fate – already have your mind settled in the matter – and there is nothing that can be done to change it. But if you really wish to know what my thoughts are, I disagree with you decision and tactics – that she should be given a choice in both instances."

Walter took a second before replying, "Your opinions have been noted. But you both knew this day was coming, as should Zoë." He began walking towards the door. "And Kate," I looked up at him, wondering what he was going to say, what consequences he was going to deal out to me. "If I find out you disobey me again – by interacting with her, or telling her she's being tested – the outcome will be dire." With that he disappeared, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

_What were his consequences? What was he planning/scheming?_ _Who was Walter's source? Did they know about us? Were they tattling on me on purpose? Did they know about the laws? Were they someone close to Zo__ë__?_ Reminding me of something from earlier that day, I turned back and asked, "Henry," he looked up at me, his eyes unreadable, "Have you heard any recent news about Calliope?"

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**So anyways thank you all for reading :)  
(Thank you, mrpuppy, for reviewing)**

**Have I ever said how awesome you guys are... over 150 views (THANK YOU!)  
And as promised here's a sneak peak (from Chapter 9):**

"The four of us were really close friends. And as such we promised to protect each other until death – no matter what." He paused, beginning to get lost in some sort of memories. "The five of us (including Odysseus) were the favorites of the gods, but especially Achilles. There was even talks of making him one of them – we were all very excited for him, Perseus – who, as the oldest of us, was like a mentor for him – was very proud of him – like a teacher or father whose pupil/child discovers/becomes something very big.  
"The Trojan war began when Helen, who was promised to Menelaus, ran away with Paris. Achilles was one of those who had sworn to protect whoever Helen chose, and Perseus joined him on the side of the Greeks. But I had close family connections with Paris' family so Heracles and I joined the Trojans, when the Spartans declared war. The four of us made an oath to never harm the other, and protect each other - even if it meant death for us."

**Anywho Chapter 8 should be up in the next few days (which is about their mythology test) then the next chapter (Chapter 9) should be up next weekend **

**Anyways hope you have a good day/week :)  
-Becca  
**


	9. Chapter 8: Books, Zombies, & Tests

**Hello and thank you guys for being patient with me :)**

**(DISCLAIMER: **I do not own _Winnie the Pooh, Last of the Mohicans, or Jane Eyre_**)**

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Life went on as normal, yet I couldn't help the tiny voice in the back of my mind which questioned everything. Was it a test when I didn't hold the door open for somebody, or didn't smile at them in the hallways? Was it a test when I wished some people would be quiet? Was it a test when I didn't completely read my biology text on Tuesday? Mom said that if I did what she and Dad have been teaching me, then I would pass. And they taught me to be kind and respectful to everyone and to do my best – and all of the things above went against that. (_Have I failed already_? I kept wondering. _And if I did, how would I know?_)

The following two weeks I started studying for mid-terms. Rose and I studied together on the roof –staying away from others since "Zombie Attack" was happening.

Since both Annabel and David were Zombies, we didn't invite them. (_Couldn't let them turn us into zombies could we?_) The week before, we invited Liam to join us to study for the Mythology test. (This would cover over the _entire_ textbook). This time, however, we didn't go to the roof (couldn't risk the security of our safe-place, Rose said). _But was this going against a test of not sharing and being kind?_ For I knew I should still be kind to David and Annabel, and _at least_, invite them to join us – that I should invite Liam to join us on the roof.

"We should invite Liam to join us on the roof," I suggested that Tuesday morning on our way to History. Rose stopped and I nearly ran into her. She looked at me as if I suggested that we jump off the roof. So I went further, "I feel bad leaving him –and Annabel/David – out. I mean you can have him swear the same oath you had me promise."

She paused, thinking it over, as we entered the classroom. I went in front of her and took my seat next to Liam as Professor Thiessen walked into the classroom. "Good morning, class." She said and Rose quickly sat next to me. "Today we are beginning the Bronze age." She stated with enthusiasm.

I smiled. I really liked Professor Thiessen as a teacher. She always tried to make whatever we were learning as interesting as she could. Sometimes she would have us act out skits, or have "games" to sort out.

But after our lesson was finished Rose dashed out of there as if there was a fire. So I turned to Liam and asked, "Would like to study with me this afternoon on the roof – no one besides Rose and I go up there."

"Alright" He said, before leaving.

"Wrong island," he said with a smile, when I asked him to help explain the book our midterm was over for my British Literature class that afternoon. "But will you explain this passage to me." He handed me his _The_ _Last of the Mohicans_ book, to the page a Huron Indian was talking to the beavers, in which one was Chingachgook in disguise.

"Well technically that's in another state – in fact I believe parts of it is in Canada, which is a completely different country." I said teasingly. "But that's what they believed. The beavers were lucky to them, special to them, and so they wanted to protect them. So imagine his great delight when one of the beavers takes notice of him – it was considered a very good omen. But what the Huron didn't know is that the beaver was Chingachgook in disguise. Chingachgook was spying on Maugua's little group of Indians. I don't recall the specific reason," I began, flipping through the next chapter looking for the reason. Mom had me read this (and the rest of _The Leatherstocking Tales_) for English two years ago – I liked Heyward and Uncas the best.

I handed the book back to him and he began skimming through it again. "Ok I think I have the basics down. Now what did you need help with?"

"Words/spellings…what exactly is he trying to say here?" I handed him the Chaucer book I was trying to comprehend.

_Think, Zo__ë__, _My parents would say, _Go further than the surface. You know this._ I tried that, but it still didn't click – so to speak.

"Well," Liam began explaining it to me. And once he said it I could comprehend it. So we spent the rest of the afternoon helping each other. After literature we began studying for Mythology.

The Mythology test was the Friday, and even though I had been studying for the past three weeks I still felt like I didn't know it like I should. _What if I mixed up what the book said with my family's actual history? What if I forgot everything?_ So the morning of the test I woke up a few minutes earlier. Annabel had already left for the day, so I went into the bathroom we shared with Abby and Helen. I brushed my teeth, and splashed water on my face –making sure I was completely alert and awake.

When I came into classroom I found that ProfessorAckerman had given us assigned seats for the day. I was at the end of the row, and one seat separated me from Rose.

"Good morning class," He said exactly as clock that hung over the whiteboard said nine o'clock. The last few people quickly sat in their seats. "As you all should know, today is your mid-term for this class. I hope you all have studied it, for it covers things we have not gone over in class yet. I have talked to Professor Thiessen and she has agreed to move your class back half an hour, so you will have two hours to complete this test. It is 200 questions long. It is pass or fail, if you have a 180 or above you pass and do not have to take this class next semester. If you make a 179 or below than you fail, and will have to continue this class – and ten points will be deducted from your grade." _No pressure or anything. _

"Now I would like to ask Helen, Annabel, Kayley, Hannah, Lucy, and Jasmine to come forward and pass out the tests for your respected groups. And will Alexander, David, Jasper, Adam, Nathan, and Lewis collect the books and notebooks from your respected groups and bring them up front. You will be able to collect your books and leave when you are finished. You may begin when you receive your test.

Annabel went up front along with the five other girls, as David came back and collected our books. The green ribbon, which signified he was a zombie, was tied around his wrist (with his Messengers of Hermes crest threaded through – as most people had done). "Good luck," He stated with a smile as he collected my notebook and textbook.

"You too," I said, as he collected his books and went towards the front.

Annabel came back and laid David's test at the seat in front of me, before coming back to me. She wore her green ribbon as a necklace with her crest threaded along the ribbon; her cleft note necklace peaked out from behind the ribbon. "Good luck, Zoë," she said sweetly, before handing me my test.

"Good luck, Annabel." I said, before she went to Rose – wishing her luck, and I suspected she said the same to Liam – before returning to her seat.

I took a deep breath and looked at the stapled papers before me. _Were these mid-terms part of my test? If I failed one of them did that mean I failed my testing?__If I failed, would that mean that I would never see my family again?_

_Calm down, Zo__ë__,_ I told myself, and I looked down at the test and carefully wrote my name at the top. I flipped through the test, looking at the questions.

It was a _monster_ of a test. There was twenty pages and, like Professor Ackerman said, 200 questions. Five of these questions were essay. Another forty were explanation, twenty-five were analyzing, and the remaining 130 were short answer. The questions ranged in difficulty from "Whose daughter's abduction explained the changes in the seasons?" to "Analyze the significance of having twelve trials for Heracles to gain immortality, and list in detail each trial in order, and what each resulted in."

Most questions I knew from the book's perspective, but there were some I had to use what my family taught me. One of those questions was "Explain who the Original Six Siblings are and how they freed themselves from the Titan's rule, why they wanted out, and how was this beneficial for the world – if it was?"

When Professor Ackerman said, "Time's up, please come to the front to hand in your tests and collect your books," I had completed the test, and was half way through checking my answers over. Some people had finished and left, but the rest of us slowly made our way to the front. Part of me wanted to continue glancing over my test, but the majority of me knew that it would be worse for me to find a mistake and not be able to fix it. So I handed my test to the professor and quickly made my way to history.

"I'm sorry; I've been blowing you off this past week. I'm also sorry for being unkind to you and the others." Rose told me softly that afternoon.

"I completely understand," I told her, returning to the book I was reading. I decided to take a short break from studying – especially since my brain felt like mush.

"Still, that's no way to treat you guys," She said, as a breeze swept across the space, blowing our hair into our faces. She quickly put her hair back into a messy bun, and offered me her other ponytail holder.

"Thank you," I said, accepting it and pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Don't worry about it," I said with a smile, trying to put her at ease.

She nodded, and came closer towards me, sitting across from me. "So how did you think you did?"

"I've guessed on more than I should have over the past week." I said, returning to back to Jane's story.

"I'm sure you did great," She said with a smile in her voice, "So are you going to play Sardines tonight?"

I looked up at her, confused. For all I could think of was tiny fish in a tin can, "What's that?"

"Oh it's like reverse hide-and-seek. It's really fun; we used to play it in my neighborhood/old school. Alyssa and I were the champs." I looked down at the concrete, trying to remember if I ever played hide-and-seek when I was little and Mom and/or Dad took me to the park. Rose looked up at me and then explained further, "Its' when –usually- groups of two/three hide somewhere while everyone else counts to a certain number before trying to find the original group. When they find the original group, they hide with them – the last group to find them become the hiders and so on." She then asked softly, "You didn't play hide-and-seek when you were younger?"

"I don't think so," I said, glancing back at my book. Mrs. Fairfax was beginning to show Jane around. '_Shall I have the pleasure of seeing Miss Fairfax tonight?_'

I glanced up and Rose was staring at me strangely, "What was it like for you, growing up? What did you do?" She asked very carefully, trying to make sure she sounded sincere and not rude or unkind.

"I guess you could say that I was sheltered. I was homeschooled. And most of the time it was just my parents and I – sometimes my aunt, Ava, and grandma would come and visit us – and as such I grew very close to my mom and dad." I paused, thinking of them – _What were they doing now?_ "They would read with me and play card games with me. They would take me to the park sometimes, and to a library or bookstore. They taught me to love reading. My dad is the one who actually taught me how to read. He read me part of a story every night, from ever since I can remember until I was about ten." I trailed off.

_I was sitting up in my bed, hugging my teddy-bear, Belle. I looked up, smiling, when I saw Dad coming in, a new book was in his hand. I wondered what this story was about since we finished the _Madeline_ books yesterday. The book he held was thick and older looking. The front of it contained a small painting of a yellow bear._

"_What story are we reading tonight?" I asked him, excited, as he sat beside me._

"_Why don't you tell me?" He asked, flipping the cover so the title page was showing. He had been teaching me how to read for the last few months, while Mom had started helping me with letters and sounds._

"_The," I said easily enough, and then paused when I got to the really long word. "Ad-"I looked up at Dad, and he nodded encouragingly "ven-". I stopped again, "tuh, tuh-rez. Adventuhrez"_

"_Really close," Dad said gently, "Adventures."_

"_Adventures," I repeated slowly and he nodded, "of Win-"I paused trying to sound out the latter part of the word, "nigh, Win-nigh."_

"_Winnie," He corrected still encouraging._

"_Winnie," I repeated "the pooh?"_

"_Very good," I looked up to see him smiling at me._

"_What's it about?" I looked down at the cover page. The same bear that was on the cover was on the bottom of the page, except it was just an outline this time – with no colors. "Is a Pooh, a bear?"_

"_Pooh is a bear. This is a collection of stories about a boy, and the adventures – the stories – he has with his stuffed animals in the Hundred Acre Woods." As a four year old girl, I mentally wrinkled my nose at the thought of the story being about a _boy_, but I listened intently anyways. _

_Dad began flipping through the first few pages, showing me the pictures on each one. He then began, "_Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming down stairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for one moment and think of it and then he feels that perhaps there isn't. Anyhow here he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced to you. Winnie-the-Pooh._"_

_He then proceeded to tell me how Pooh wanted some honey, but the honey hive was in the tree. So he then went to Christopher Robin for a green or blue balloon, so he could use that to float into the tree and get the honey._

"_Silly bear, doesn't he know that he can't float using only a balloon?" I said, picturing the bears I had seen in books in the library, and the balloon that I had received last year._

"_Maybe, but in this story he can. If we put a balloon around Belle, do you think she could float up," After thinking about it, I nodded. He went on with the story and told how Pooh actually was able to float up in the tree. Closing my eyes, I began to picture Pooh as Belle, floating in the trees I've seen at the park – the ones that seemed taller than my home. _

_Despite the fact that it was about a _boy_, I genuinely liked the story, especially Pooh Bear. I began to wish that I was like Christopher Robin and that Belle could come alive and we could play together in the caves near my home. _

_By the time Dad had finished the story, I was growing sleepy. "Goodnight, Zo. Sleeptight," He said, as he pulled the covers up around Belle and I._

"_Good night, Daddy. I love you." I said, trying to stifle a yawn._

"_Love you too, see you in the morning." He kissed the top of my forehead. I looked out behind him, knowing that the inevitable dark would come soon. "She won't hurt you." He said, as if knowing where my thoughts were going. "I'll be close by if you need me," He smiled at me reassuringly before slipping out, leaving my door cracked so the hall light shone through on his way out. _

_I curled beneath my blankets, clutching Belle tightly to me. I wasn't always afraid of the dark. But after what happened with the lady last month, I couldn't be in the dark without think of the cave she held me in, and worrying if she will come back to me. But Dad said she wouldn't come near me, or hurt me again. And I trusted Dad. He wouldn't let anything/anyone hurt me, and he was nearby. So I closed my eyes and began to think of Pooh bear. That night instead of the usual nightmares that have haunted me since _then_ I dreamt of Belle and I playing with Christopher Robin and Pooh Bear in The Hundred Acre Woods._

"He would always play with me," I continued to tell Rose, "And he would always hang the pictures I drew him by his desk with pride, as if they were his own personal _Mona Lisa_. He is my superhero."

"He sounds like an awesome dad. I can't wait to meet him someday –maybe." She added with a smile, her thoughts, seemed far off though. Maybe she was thinking of her own dad.

"Maybe," I added with a smile. "But what about you? What is it like in St. Louis?"

"I like it. It's my hometown, will always be. But I'm kind of missing the bi-polar weather - it's too consistent here." She smiled, and it brightened her face. "But back to your question, I grew up in a large family. There may have been only three kids in my family –like Annabel – but between my dad's brother and sister and my mom's four brothers and sisters there was always cousins to play with. We would play kickball, and hide-and-seek, tag, ride bikes; play with Barbies, trains, Legos. My parents, like yours, were very adamant about us reading. But they would also take us to the park, and on family bike rides, along the river – sometimes we would go across the river into Illinois and ride there. There are two state parks we would go to sometimes. But yeah my family is really close – all of us. My uncle is the one that introduce my mom to my dad – he and my dad are best friends. And my cousin is the one who named me – Aurora Rose. And, yes, I was named after her favorite princess at the time." She smiled again.

She paused and then said more seriously, "You should come to St. Louis, sometime. I can show you around to all the neat places like the zoo, and the City Museum."

I smiled at the idea, "Most definitely,"

* * *

**So thank you for reading - sorry this is so late. (**Couldn't give you guys a horrible chapter**).  
Thank you mrpuppy for reviewing**

**Can I just say again how awesome you guys are? Thank you so much for 1200+ views! And as promised here's a sneak peak from March - a little bit of Liam's story:**

_Liam and Lily were driving home, singing the continuation of the Remnants of Isaac concert that they had left on the radio. One of the band's slower songs came on, and Liam was about to change it when Lily stopped him.  
__"No," She said with a smile in her voice, "I like this song." He smiled at her, and she began singing along.  
_(Lyrics)  
_"We should create a band," She told him as they drove along the darker, damp road. "They're brother and sister."  
__"Yes, but unlike you some of us are not musically-inclined." He said then added with a smile, "I think you took all of the musical talent in our family."  
__"I don't think that's true," She said softly, before going back to singing, and after a few seconds he joined her.  
_(Lyrics-chorus)  
_A pair of headlights came towards them. And it took Liam a second to realize that, unlike all the other cars that traveled in the opposite direction, these were heading directly towards them. He slammed on his brakes, and tried to steer away from the car but it was too late. There was jolt that sent them forward – caused by the car behind them rear-ending them – and then there was another jolt as the car crashed into the front of them, sending Liam and Lily backwards along with the airbags and glass from what once was the windshield.  
__But the headlights in front of them started moving away slowly. _What kind of car did they have, a tank? _A small part of him began to wonder. But he soon put that part far away from his mind. "Lily, Lily, are you ok?" He asked frantically, as his vision began to blur.  
__"Liam," She said in a quiet rasp.  
__"Stay with me, Lily. Please stay with me." Blackness was starting to surround the outside of his vision and was steadily creeping closer.  
__"I love you, Liam." She whispered,  
__"Love you, too," He said as the darkness took over him._

**(Just a note about this, where it says 'lyrics' and 'lyrics-chorus' it'll actually have lyrics when posted in March- I just haven't come up with the song yet. )**

**By the way, Liam has a brace on his right arm - that wraps around the outside of his thumb/bottom of his hand and goes all the way to his elbow. This is from a result from the crash above. He will be able to be rid of it, when he goes back home for Christmas. BUt yeah, sorry about not mentioning that earlier. Also I'm sorry for messing up information in the earlier chapter about Rose. She has a younger brother who goes by Andy (he's two years yonger than Rose) and a younger sister Agnes ("Annie") who is four years younger than Rose - the same age as Isabel, Annabel's little sister.**

**Yes, if you are wondering, I am from the St. Louis area. (Also I'm a senior in High School, so I appologize for any inaccuracies with the whole college testing/studying. Btw my high school isn't like normal high school - we're _much_ tinier, and the way the Societies Professors [Professors Ackerman, Evans, and Thiessen] act with their students is based on how my teachers are.) And yes, I'm reading _Last of the Mohicans_ for my English class - Heyward's my favorite. And yes, Zoe's reading _Jane__ Eyre.  
(_Another thing is Belle is named after Zoe's favorite Princess, Belle. Belle is her favorite, because she reminds Zoe of her mom. I mean, did anyone else think of_ Beauty and the Beast_, when you first read_ The Goddess Test_? With the whole people disguised as others -the gods disguised as humans/the humans disguised as houseware- and the whole person who everyone thinks is the bad guy is actually a really good/nice guy -the Beast/Hades- and the main character going to {and being "trapped" at}the "bad guy"'s house to save someone they care about -Belle's Dad/Ava? See I always thought of Sofia as Mrs. Potts, Ella being like Clogsworth, and Calliope being a more eviler Lumiere)**

**Also, another note, November 5th was David's actual birthday - woot, woot. That is the next chapter after learning about Zoe's test results (and Professor Ackerman's history). Then after that will be "Faux-Thanksgiving" which our little group celebrates Thanksgiving and Rose will make a Gooey-butter cake (because I learned like a year ago , and Rose will learn too, that Gooey-butter cake {like Toasted Ravioli and Provel Cheese} is just a St. Louis thing, I'm sorry -ians) :)  
So yes, I don't know when Chapter 9 will be up (I've been working about it, and just need to get one little part down)  
{Also, if you are wondering, the test is the exact same test that Kate took, studied like crazy for, and recieved a 172 in... and if you are wondering two of our little group passes it - amazing, smart peoples :) }**

**Anywho I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving and a great rest of the week  
-Becca**

**(P.S. "Zombie Attack" is a combination of two different (yet similiar) programs/events - I guess you could say- of two colleges, which I kinda mashed together and twisted. "Zombie Attack" is from Oct. 1-Nov.1. On Oct. 1st Jordan/Lee -who are in charge of all the games for the societies- contacted someone to be a "Zombie". Their goal is to infect all the "Humans", by squirting them with waterguns. The "Humans" can deflect these with their notebooks, binders, etc. and "Humans" can also keep the Zombies from attacking them for 15 minutes by throwing notebook paper at them. But if a "Zombie" is successful then the "Human" will change into a "Zombie" after two hours. Mid-way through the month -aproximately the 13th/14th of October- a person is randomly chosen and they will become a "Healer". "Healers" "heal" "Zombies" by throwing rolled up socks at them. Again after two hours the "Zombie" will become a "healer" and tries to "heal" all the other "Zombies". {"Healers" can't harm "Humans"} So then it becomes a war of Zombies vs. Humans vs. Healers... Classrooms, gym, library, dorms, cafeteria are off limits when in use. And all of those partcipating must wear their ribbons where others can see them. Orange Ribbon signifies "Human", Green Ribbon signifies "Zombie" and Purple Ribbon signifies "Healer".)  
**


	10. Chapter 9: Weak Ankles

**Hello and thank you for reading**

**Warning: This chapter contains some myths which I completely rearranged (and are not like their well-known tellings)  
**

* * *

Annabel and I waited together the following Friday afternoon, to see the results of our Mythology midterm. We stepped up to the table when it was our turn. On the table was a note telling us to take our tests with us. Annabel grabbed both hers and mine as we stepped to the side so those behind us could see their scores.

She handed me my test, as she asked "On the count of three?" I nodded reluctantly. "1…" I fingered the edge of the cover page, which had "_W__INTERS__, Z__OË_" written on it. "2…" she took the edge of her paper. "3" she said and she quickly flipped over her paper.

I quickly flipped over the cover page and automatically glanced at the score. My heart fell as I saw the 178 written and circled in red ink.

"Yes!" Annabel cried happily, hugging her paper to her chest. I began to flip through the test, trying to figure out which questions I missed. "How did you do?" She asked me, and I continued staring down at my test – knowing my eyes would give me away.

"May I please see your test?" I asked, glancing up at her, and headed towards the door.

"Sure," She said, following me into the cool, cloudy October day, before handing me her test. We walked in the direction of the Societies' gym for Training. We would be early, but it was time we used to practice what we've learned so far.

I flipped through, comparing our answers. We basically missed the same questions; I just missed two more – like #37 where she put Abderus when I wrote Phyleus. But when I got to the discussion/essay questions, I gave her test back. "Thank you very muchly," I stated heading back towards the doors. She started to follow me back, but I told her, "It's ok, go on ahead. I'll join you in a few minutes."

"I can wait for you," She offered, and I shook my head.

"Thank you, but I'll meet you there." I said with a smile. She still didn't seem convinced, but she continued on her way. I watched her for a second before going back inside. I went through the hallways until I reached Professor Ackerman's office. I heard him inside, since it was his office hours. I knocked timorously on his door.

"Come in," He said, and I timidly opened the door. The room was smaller, and painted in a deep emerald color. There were several bookcases scattered throughout the room, a desk, and three chairs – including a dark leather deskchair which was where Professor Ackerman was sitting. Even though his room seemed dark, it was very comforting – as it reminded me of my home. "Hello, Miss Winters." He said, glancing up from the papers on his large mahogany desk. "How may I help you?" He asked, signaling me to sit in the chair across from him.

I took a step inside, and walked towards the cushioned chair, stating quietly, "If I may, sir, I have a question about my test."

" Go on," He said, piling the papers and moving them off to the side.

Summoning the courage to speak my mind, I began quickly, "Sir, I understand that I failed my test, and I do not want you to change that. But could you please explain a few of these answers to me?"

"Which Questions, Miss Winters?" He asked and I showed him the discussion/essay questions that I didn't understand. He nodded, as if he knew this already, "Miss Winters, your answers may be correct, but they do not line up with the book – which is what this test is over."

"I understand that, sir, but what about this question." I flipped the page to the question about what happened with each of the heroes – which I stated what he told us, what the book told us, and what I had observed.

He looked over it, and then took his red pen and crossed out the 178, and wrote a 179, "It would still be a 179, Miss Winters. You still did not pass it, do accept this?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." I said taking my test back.

"Now if I may ask you a question – what is your story, and how are you related/know Hades?"

I was taken aback by his question, though I guess I shouldn't have been. After all I had –somewhat- revealed my history through the test. "I'm not quite sure what you mean?"

He stood up and went into the filing cabinet behind him – into the drawer labeled "Current OOS Students". He came out with a file and placed it on his desk. He went through it, turning it around so I couldn't see its contents. He pulled out a sheet of paper and showed it to me. I recognized the stationary and handwriting immediately.._Dear Jason,_ the note began in my father's handwriting. The note went on as a recommendation letter, and a command to watch over me, and to keep him informed. I smiled at the note, able to imagine Dad writing it. "You're not Persephone?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"No, I am not," I answered, staring unseeingly at the note.

"But you know him?" He gently took back the note and put it back into my file, and placed that back amongst the others.

I nodded and said, "Yes, sir." I paused, trying to think of a way to change the subject. I asked him, what I've been wondering for a month – since his lesson in Mythology. "What's your story, Professor?"

"I will inform you, if you will help me get up to date with what has been happening with the gods for the past millennia."

"Alright," I stated slowly. _He could be trusted, right? Since he was one of us, and since Dad seemed to trust him?_

"I was taught husbandry and navigation, but as a nephew of kings I was mostly trained how to be a solider. I was under the great Chiron, along with Heracles and Achilles. Perseus would sometimes help mentor Chr-Heracles and I, but mostly he helped with Achilles, and as such the four of us grew to be the closest of friends."

He paused, changing the subject slightly. "'The Face that launched a thousand ships' is no exaggeration. Helen is easily the most beautiful woman I've ever met. And despite what the history books/mythology implies, she didn't let that fact go to her head as much as she could have. With that, she could have any man she wanted, but her family chose Menelaus. Menelaus turned out to be a real – as you might say – jerk, and only cared enough about Helen as to use her as a trophy to lord over others. Helen had loved Paris from when they first met as kids. So when he offered her a way to be free of Menelaus, she took it. Well as you can imagine this did not please Menelaus or the rest of the Spartans, so they declared war on Troy. Achilles was close friends with, Castor and Pollux – Helen's brothers – so he (and Perseus) joined their side. Paris is my cousin, so Chris and I joined the Trojans. Though we were on different sides of the war, the four of us swore not to harm the other – even if it cost us our own life."

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and I had a feeling I knew where this was going. "It was the final battle. The war had dragged on way longer than it really should have, and was the bloodiest this world has seen since the Original Siblings freed themselves from the Titans. And this battle was the worst. The Greeks had just delivered the Trojan horse, and proceeded to burn down our city. So to take action we created this plan to attack them while they were sleeping in the nearby countryside – thinking they had completely destroyed us. We had, indeed, surprised them, but they stilled outnumbered us by thousands. It turned into the bloodiest battle that the world has never known. There was not one inch on that hillside that hadn't been stained by the blood of the millions who died."

He stopped again, looking dejected, "One of my fellow soldiers was about to kill Achilles. So in my friend's defense, I fired a poisoned arrow towards my fellow-countryman. Apparently a breeze came across the field and, and though skimmed my countryman causing him to fall, the arrow pierced Achilles' heel."

He paused, and I understood why he hated himself. "But, sir, it was not your fault. You were trying to protect him. It was an accident."

"But a good marksman would take the wind into accountability before releasing his arrow." He stated matter-of-factly.

I nodded, knowing there wasn't much –as of right now – that I could do to help him. But just like I am determined to help Liam, I was determined to help Professor Ackerman get over the guilt he felt for his friend's death. "What happened next, Professor?"

"After a week of continuous battle, the gods had to come down and stop the war for good, before it could decimate the entire population. But it didn't matter the damage was already done and irreversible. I had lost two of my closest friends that day." Changing subjects, he said, "We still remained favorites of the gods, and were each given a quest to complete – along with the seven," He stopped, remembering something. "Anyways, to answer your question, Odysseus passed on the opportunity to become immortal. Instead he lived a long and happy life with Penelope. Perseus was granted immortality after he defeated Medusa. He hated Chris and me from thence forward. Heracles completed his twelve labors, but lost his strength."

"And you, sir?" I asked, and he looked up at me.

"Demeter sent me on a quest - over to the New World – to help piece together that," He indicated to my pendant, which I knew at one time belonged to my aunt, Persephone. "It was for Persephone, to help her to feel happier, to protect her – though from what I do not know, since she was/is a goddess." I fingered with the engraved amber stone. I knew it was meant for protection, for that is what my mother told me, why she gave it to me when I was very little. "Demeter has always been very kind to me. After I completed the quest for her, she helped me become the official history keeper – which is why I would like your help."

"I would be glad to help – as much as I can," I stated, glancing at the clock to the side of me – it was 1:58, and my next class started at two o'clock. "But I'm going to be late for my next class. May I please help you another time?"

"Yes," He said as I gathered my test and messenger bag.

"Thank you, sir," I said heading towards the door, before pausing and turning around to face. "Back to your question, he's my dad." I said before rushing to the Societies' gym.

* * *

**So thank you for reading (And thank you, MadgeUndersee-strawberry, for reviewing. Yes, technically Zoe should be immortal - and technically she is right now. She is being tested to see if she is to remain immortal/a goddess.)**

**If you are wondering, yes, Professor Ackerman is Jason (as in Jason and the Argonauts) and Coach Evans is Chris who is Heracles/Hercules. **The both of them are the closest of friends and have been since they went to school together. (This is why Heracles was willing and joined Jason on the side of the Trojans, I believe.) Pereseus was an older student at the school, and he helped -later on- with younger students. This is how he became friends with Jason, Heracles and Achilles. Perseus' and Achilles' relationship is that more of older-younger-brothers/mentor-mentee. He was closest to Achilles than Jason and Heracles (and is why he joined Achilles on the side of the Greeks, I think.) But like stated above, the four of them were still very close friends would do anything for the other three. Everyone loved Achilles. He was very down-to-earth/level-headed, and kind to everyone. This is why he was everyone's favorite, including the gods. **Because of Jason and Heracles "help" in Achilles demise, Heracles lost his super-strength** (don't take this to me he isn't strong anymore, just not as strong as before) **and both of them**** are cursed to a never-ending cycle of aging and then "dying"**. This is why there is about a five year age diffence between the two (so the one can fake the other's death, as the other falls into a *very* deep sleep and ages backwards at fast-forward pace). It's very interesting to watch.

**About Zoe's necklace/pendant/charm/crest... **(This goes back to January/March, before _Goddess Legcay_ came out). Originally I thought Persephone gave up her immortality, and spent a few years (human) with Adonis before he died, and then she. So Diana sent Jason out to gather metals/stones throughout the world. These stones/metals and special meanings/charms, and Diana used these to create something to protect Persephone from the plague and other horible diseases/death at that time, and to give her long & happy life with Adonis. So before Persephone died she left the crest with James. So when he, Kate and Ava went to Persephone and ask for her help in _Goddess Interrupted_ he gave her back her pendant. Persephone then gave it to Ava to give to Kate. _"You and I may have had our differences, but Kate seems to like and trust you. Will you please give this to her? For Kate seems to need all the luck and protection she can recieve."_ So Ava gave Kate the charm *directly* after the end of _Goddess Interrupted._ Kate then, in turn, gave the necklace to Zoe when she was born. **So the pendant/charm has "magical" properties which helps protect and keep safe who ever has it.  
****If you are confused on anything, or have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask away.**

**SO thank you for 1500+ views! (I'm sorry I don't have a sneak peak for you guys, but I promise to have it with the next chapter - which should be up by/on Wednesday) But here is a little piece of information/story which takes place right after this chaper. (Please pardon any out-of-characterness)  
**

I walked into my dorm after training, just as my phone began to buzz. I looked at the number, and smiled when I saw it was from Mom/Dad. "Hello," I said cheerfully, as I set my messenger bag on my desk-chair.  
"Hello, Zo," Dad's voice came from the otherside of the phone.  
"Hi, Dad, how are you?" I asked as I took off my shoes.  
"Very well, how is school?"  
"School is going very well. I love it here. I don't know if Mom told you, but-" I paused as I remembered what Mom said when she was here a few weeks ago. "Wait, you're not going to get in trouble for talking to me, are you?"  
"No," He said, "What were you going to say?"  
I questioned him for a second, but I continued -for it is disrespectful to question your parents. "But I've become close friends with the four others in my group. They are the best. They are very nice, and the friendliest of people..." I trailed off,  
"I am glad to hear that. How have your tests going?"  
I stopped, he probablly meant midterms/exams, but I stated anyways, "I don't know, Dad. I know Mom said that I would do fine if I did as you taught me. I question that sometimes. I feel like I'm doing horrible. For there are times where I don't hold doors open for people, where I don't smile at them in the hallways. There are times where I wish some students would just stop talking, others where I know I can do better. "  
"It's ok, Zo," He said calmly, comforting, and I began to feel better. "Do not worry about it. Your mom is right, you'll do fine - just do as you've learn."  
"But, Dad, you and Mom always told me to be kind, respectul, and to do my best... what I've mentioned goes against that."  
"You are doing fine. Do not worry, I will let you know if otherwise." He paused, "One more thing, be careful in what you tell others." There seemed to be more to his words, than what was on the surface. I became curious on why, and what was going on, but I didn't say anything. "I'm glad you like it there. And you can call us at anytime. I love you, Zo."  
"Love you too, Daddy." I said before he hung up, and I began to really wonder what was going on. I knew it probablly had something to do with the whole "Don't communicate with Zoe" rule. Did my uncle have a spy amongst my classmates/teachers? And if so who was he/she?

**So, yes, the next chapter should be up on/around Wednesday, and then I'm going to try to get Chapter 11 around Friday/Saturday.  
Anyways, I hope you have a good week :)**

**~Becca**  
**(P.S. If you are wondering, Rose and Annabel are the two people in the main group who passed. Rose recieved a 189 and tied with Ledia for the top score of their class {as such, both of them recieved ten points for their respective teams/groups}, and Annabel recieved a 180. Liam scored 172, and David recieved 168. And when Kate/Henry hear of Zoe's score, they're very proud of her. This confuses Zoe, as she doesn't know why they are proud of her for failing.)**


End file.
